


Lend a Hand

by Pagesandpages



Category: Daredevil (TV), Iron Fist (TV), Jessica Jones (TV), Luke Cage (TV), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: Civil War Team Captain America, Civil War Team Iron Man, Developing Relationship, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Matt Murdock Needs a Hug, Matt also cares a lot about his new team, Matt is a worried mom, Matt protecting Peter, Peter-centric, Post-Episode: s01e08 The Defenders, Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man and Defenders meeting, Team Bonding, Work In Progress, big ones at least, fun villians, how does one defeat Sandman?, i know where this is going just trying to get there, lots of love to go around
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-12
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2019-03-03 17:29:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13346043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pagesandpages/pseuds/Pagesandpages
Summary: Peter's life changed when he was bitten by the spider. Everything changed in fact.Turns out being a teenager and a human spider isn't as easy he thought it would be.





	1. First Meetings

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first fic, and I would love to hear your reviews on how I could improve for next time, or if you'd like to see more like this! Enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Why on Earth did you think it was a good idea to try and fight sand. Sand. I’m not even stupid enough to try and fight a not so inanimate object. And I am literally known as someone who tries to fight things that I have no chance against.”

“All I wanted was to go home, have a sandwich, maybe even treat myself to a bath. A bath! I know. I was asking for too much. I should have just longed for the sandwich.” Peter muttered to himself sadly as he swung around the massive sand formation.

 

The sand-thing was destroying the buildings around it. Its roars seemed to rattle the city to its core. For a moment, Peter regretted ever putting on the ridiculous skin-tight suit he was in. That thing was terrifying.

Taking a deep breath, Peter yelled out to the thing, “Excuse me...um… Mr. Sandman?”

The thing turned toward Peter, roaring in his face, spitting sand in Spiderman’s face.

Peter made a dramatic move of wiping the sand (spit? Peter didn’t want to think too hard about it) off of his face, “That was rude, but I am willing to forgive. So why don’t we take a breath, simmer down, and we can figure out what is going on together? How does that sound? I’m willing to listen if you need to talk. I promise I won’t hurt you.” _Please don’t kill me, please don’t kill me_

The Sandman stood in front of Peter, breathing heavily. Peter’s arms were shaking, barely holding him up as the thing stared him down.

The Sandman seemed to be calming down. Peter slowly unstuck one of his hands from the wall he was on and held out his hand to the Sandman. The sand formed into a hand shaped thing and slowly reached out to Spiderman’s hand.

Suddenly, Sandman let out another roar and punched Peter right off of the building. Spider-Man flew through the air, unable to catch himself before he slammed into the ground. He rolled a few times before finally coming to a stop at the foot of a light post.

“Peter,” Karen said through the mask, “You seem to have taken some serious injuries. Shall I contact Mr. Stark to come and retrieve you?”

“No!” Peter gasped out, trying to catch his breath, “I’m fine, Karen. I just need to catch my- Who are _they_?”

“Scanning now,” Karen replied. There were four people fighting the Sandman. They must have been the ones who had spooked the man into literally, as MJ would say, bitch slapping him across the city.

Peter attempted to stand up to help the fighters, but his senses were going wild. Everything screamed danger. Literally. Everything. The newspaper rolling down the street was sending his Spidey senses off. A newspaper.

Peter laid back down, trying to stop the world from spinning. The people down the street were going die. Fighting sand.

Peter let out a pained laugh as he thought more about it. Death by sand. It was probably the most ridiculous thing Peter had ever heard.

“Scanning complete. They are known as The Defenders, specifically in low-income neighborhoods. All of them have records. The girl is Jessica Jones, a private detective.” Karen started, before being interrupted by Peter.

“Please stop.” Peter begged, “It’s too loud.”

Ok. So it wasn’t just the Spider Senses acting up, but his other senses.

His brain felt like mush.

Mush. That was such a funny word. Mushhy. Mush. Mush.

“Kareeen.” Peter groaned, “Why did I name you Karen? I should have named you Mush. Mushy Mush. That’s a good name.”

Karen, despite being just code, sounded concerned in her response, “Peter, I believe you have a very severe concussion. I will be contacting  Mr. Stark as soon as possible.”

“Noooooooo. I am fine, Mushy. Fine. See. I can stand just fine.” With those words, Peter attempted to stand, only to fall, the world going dark as he fell.

“Comms seem to be down. I will be unable to contact Mr. Stark.”

___________

“Shit, shit, _shit!_ ” Jessica grunted as another fist of sand hit her.

“Danny.” Luke yelled over the destruction, “Was it really necessary to hit a giant glob of sand? Why on Earth did you think that was a good idea? I honestly used to think that monks were… zen.”

Danny threw another punch that went right through the sand leg (?), “It was causing chaos. It is not right to allow chaos to run ramped in the city.”

With a roar that made Daredevil cover his ears, the glob of sand flew into the air into a cloud shape and disappeared into the setting sun.

“Well,” Daredevil hissed, glaring at Danny, “That was, as Jess so plainly put it, shit.”

Jessica sighed, shaking her hair out, “Do you know how hard it is to get sand out of hair, Danny? My hair is going to feel gross for weeks.” She looked up, only for confusion to cross her face, “Hey, is that _Spider-Man_?”

The others followed Jessica’s sightline (Daredevil excluded). Lying on the ground, about a block away, was a man in red and blue spandex. He didn’t seem to be moving.

“He’s hurt.” Daredevil muttered, walking towards the man.

The others followed closely behind, keeping an eye out for any Avengers looking for the man. Rumor had it he had joined the Avengers in secret, becoming a part of the team without anyone’s, including the Secretary of States, knowledge.

Matt was the first to reach Spider-Man. He gently turned the red and blue hero over and felt along his head.

“He has a contusion on the back of his head,” Daredevil muttered, frowning deeply, “He’s a _child_.”

“What do you mean by child?” Luke asked, concern crossing his face.

Matt lifted the hero into his arms, being unusually gentle, “My apartment is closest.” He began walking down the street, “Are you coming or not?”

The three eagerly ran after him. Matt was someone who kept to himself. They all knew his name, that he was blind, and he was a lawyer. That was it. Even Jessica couldn’t find much on the guy other than he and his business partner looked after people who often wouldn’t be able to afford lawyers. He seemed like someone who genuinely cared about people, despite his nature as Daredevil.

The trio followed Matt quietly as he used alleyways and dim streets to get to Hell’s Kitchen. People literally ran when they saw Daredevil emerging from the dark.

“You seem to have quite the fan base here,” Luke stated, watching the people run away.

Matt turned around, giving a wicked grin, “They call me the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen for a reason.”

They end up outside of a modest apartment building. Matt passes the unconscious hero into Jessica’s arms. He then maneuvered his way up to the third floor and gestured for the rest to follow.

Jessica shrugged, and simply jumped to the third floor. Danny and Luke were forced to take the fire escape stairs. By the time they got to the window, Matt had gone through Jessica had laid Spider-Man on the couch, and Daredevil was holding an ice pack to the back of his head.

“Ok,” Luke said, leaning against a wall, looking around the apartment, “When you said child, what the hell did you mean. Because there is no way that Spider-Man is a _child.”_

Daredevil continued to listen to the kid’s heartbeat as he replied, “Child isn’t the right word. No. He’s young though. Seventeen max.”

Jessica sighed, plopping herself down on the chair beside the sofa, pulling out a flask from inside her jacket, “Now that’s just fucked up.”

The four defenders stood in an awkward silence. Matt directed the others to the fridge, not moving from the teenager's side. The three others made themselves comfortable around his apartment.

Matt frowned when he heard something coming from the kids head, right where the wound was. He leaned in closer, trying to figure out what the sound was. It almost sounded like, bubble bath? Matt had never heard anything like that, at least coming from someone’s skull.

Matt felt along the edge of Spider-Man’s costume, looking for a seam where he could get the mask off. He could smell blood coming from the Spider. Matt respected, more than anyone else here, but _the sound_ coming from his head was concerning.

“If you continue trying to find how to get the suit off, I will use lethal force against you,” the suit said in a monotone voice.

Matt instantly jumped back, nearly tripping over his new coffee table. Jess had jumped from her seat too, looking at the unconscious boy with wide eyes. The boys in the kitchen hadn’t seemed to notice the commotion in the living room.

“What,” Jessica whispered, “the fuck was that.”

Matt just shook his head, trying to process what had happened. Slowly, he inched closer to Spider-Man but didn’t touch him.

“I’m sorry.” Matt said, listen closely this time, “Who are you?”

The suit, again, spoke, “That is irrelevant. My duty is to protect Spider-Man from people who wish to discover his identity. I have been given permission to use lethal force,” Sparks flew from the suit, “If necessary.”

“I’m not trying to harm him.” Daredevil tried to explain, “He has a massive head injury, several cracked ribs, and a dislocated shoulder. I just want to help. I’m Daredevil. His secret will be as safe as mine. I swear to you.”

There was a pause as the suit thought about it. “I am considering it. I have been unable to contact the proper authorities for the injuries obtained. The Avengers have considered asking The Defenders to join their team, but the Sokovia Accords forced their hand. If you are seen as trustworthy enough to join the Avengers, I shall trust your discretion with the details that you learn today. If you decide otherwise,” more sparks flew from the suit, “I won’t hesitate to use lethal force.

“Do I want to ask why Spider-Man is both female and threatening you with lethal force?” Danny asked, sitting down opposite to Jess, while Luke sat on the arm of the chair. Both had sandwiches in their hands.

“Matty pissed off the suit,” Jessica explained.

Luke lets out a laugh, “How do you even piss off a suit?”

“By making me believe that Spider-Man's identity is at risk,” the suit replied, buzzing.

Matt removed his Daredevil gloves, and headed towards the bathroom calling over his shoulder, “Can someone grab my med kit. It is in the cupboard under the stairs. And get me some damp cloths”

Matt thoroughly washed his hands, scrubbing as hard as he could. If he was going to be making sure the kid’s head was ok, then he was going to be clean about it. Claire had told him, repeatedly, that head wounds should be taken very seriously, and he wasn’t going to be responsible for that kid's death just because he wasn’t being clean.

When he returned, Danny had already laid out the med kit. They were all waiting patiently for him, still scattered around the living room..

Matt pulled on some latex gloves, wincing at the sound it made. He then grabbed some cotton pads, some sutures, and some alcohol wipes and the damp cloths. With only slight hesitation, Matt approached the unconscious hero.

“Is it ok if I check that head wound now?” Matt requested to the suit.

Another set of sparks came out, but Matt could hear the suit power down. There was a quiet hiss. Matt assumed that meant he was safe to proceed.

Carefully, Matt maneuvered the teenager. Matt sat with his back against the arm of the couch, legs bent. Spider-Man was held up between Matt’s legs, his head bent forward.

Slowly, Matt pulled Spider-Man’s mask off just enough to get to the head wound. The suit had allowed him to see Spider-Man, but he would rather not be killed just because the suit decided not to like Jess, or Danny, or Luke for whatever reason.

“That looks really nasty,” Luke muttered, referring to Spider-Man’s bleeding head.

Matt just nodded in response and got to work.

He started by parting the hair around the wound. He could feel quite a bit of swelling. A lot actually, he frowned slightly, listening to the hero’s body. Everything sounded fine. Moving on, he used the cloth to clean up the blood surrounding the wound. He made sure he was as gentle as possible, knowing how much injuries hurt.

Dabbing the alcohol wipes caused the kid to flinch, even in his state. Before Matt put in the sutures of the jagged gash, he felt for whatever was causing the bubble bath noises. He felt along the cut, only to pull his hand away in shock.

“Are you ok?” Danny asked, concern plaguing his voice.

Matt opened his mouth, closed it, shook his head, then tried again, “I think… I think his skin is stitching itself back together. Normal people’s skin does that over long periods of time, but this… I have never seen anything like this before.”

“Well,” Jess said, raising her almost empty flask, “this day just keeps getting better and better.”

Matt tried to focus on his sutures, but the feeling of skin moving together under his fingers had really put him out of focus.

“Where did you learn to do this, Matty?” Danny asks, leaning towards the blind man, “I don’t mean to be offensive but-”

“But how did a poor blind man learn to put people back together?” Matt heard the blood rush to Danny’s face, “Don’t worry, I get questions like that all time. I’ve had people ask how I learned to tie my shoe, so at least you weren’t offensive as you could have been.”

Danny rubbed the back of his head, awkwardness hanging from him like ice, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok. And to answer your question, I wasn’t always blind. I went blind during a chemical accident when I was nine. When I was growing up, my dad was a boxer. We couldn’t afford health insurance, so I learned how to help my dad. When I went blind, I still helped stitch up my dad.” Matt smiled softly to himself, thinking of his dad’s smile.

Jessica started laughing. The others looked at her, shock on their faces. Jessica was someone who was brutally honest about everything, but she had never been flat out cruel.

“I’m sorry, Matty,” she gasped between laughs, “But man, did we all have shit childhoods. God damn it we are a mess.” Jessica didn’t stop laughing for a while, but the others smiled, knowing she was right.

Matt put on the cotton bandage on the freshly sutured gash, and gently pulled the mask back over Spider-Man’s head.

“Thank you,” the voice from the suit said, “My main protocol is to protect Spider-Man, and I was unable to complete my protocol. Thank you for helping me protect him.”

Matt smiled at the suit, hoping that it could see it. He quickly ran to his bedroom and picked up some spare blankets from his closet. He threw Luke and Danny one each, and gently tucked Spider-Man in. When Matt turned around, Danny had made his way to the floor, while Luke had laid out on the chair.

Matt didn’t know when it was decided that they would all see this through, but it comforted him a little.

He then moved to where Jess was sitting, pushed her over a bit, and sat down next to her. It was a little squished. In the end, all he wanted was to have a nap in his comfy bed, but he didn’t trust Danny and Luke not to destroy the place if he left the room for more than five minutes.

Jess would be the one cheering them on.

They would have the place destroyed by the time he got from his room to his living room. He had no doubt.

So he stayed on the chair, his feet up on the coffee table, blanket tucked over him and Jess, and let himself fall into a restless sleep. And if Jessica leaned on his shoulder, and curled up into him, her flask still in hand, he was much too tired to notice. And it wasn’t him who twisted the lid back on the flask so she didn’t spill it on herself in her sleep. And it definitely wasn’t him who stayed awake, waiting for Danny and Luke to fall asleep, so they didn’t have to stay up alone.

_____________

  


Peter woke up in a strange room with strange people and sand down his pants.

He didn’t know what was worse: not knowing where he was or who he was with or having sand. In spandex. Very tight, already uncomfortable, spandex.

Peter took a deep breath and followed the steps his Aunt gave him to help him in his elementary school years. His Aunt had given him tips on how to keep calm if someone robbed or kidnapped him. Peter had never found it helpful until now.

“First step: are you hurt?” Aunt May had said, not losing eye contact with her nephew.

Was he hurt? Yes. Most definitely, yes. His entire body felt like one massive ache.

“Step two: Is there someone you can trust that you can ask for help?”

Peter looked around the room, trying to ignore his senses that were screaming at him to run. There were two men, a woman, and…. Daredevil?

He had never personally met the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, but his reputation had spread through the city. He had walked home one day and a mother had told her child that if she didn’t start behaving, the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen would come for her. The kid had almost immediately stopped causing trouble.

Did he trust The Devil? Probably not. Besides, his reputation as a fear monger was strong on the best of days.

“Step three: How can you get out of the situation?”

That was a good question. He was in a modest-looking apartment. There was a door up a staircase, and with a slight turn of his head, he realized there were windows behind him. Windows or door?

“How are you feeling?”

Peter, in that moment, felt like one of those animated cats. The ones whose hair shot straight up, and they jumped ten feet in the air when scared. Those.

Because as soon as those words were spoken, Peter felt himself leap off of the couch and land on the ceiling. His body screamed at him to stop and lay back down on the couch. Peter was pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to hurt this much.

“No wonder they call you Spider-Man.” the woman said, stretching out her arms as she woke up from her chair.

“Where am I?” Peter asked, his voice cracking.

Daredevil rose from the couch, and looked towards the Spider on the roof, “You are in my apartment. We found you on the streets and took you back here. You were injured. We didn’t want to leave you on the streets, so we brought you here.”

“But, what happened?” Peter asked, trying to remember what he had done to get to injure himself this badly, “How did I- Wait a minute, I remember seeing you, and the Sandman.”

“Sandman? The giant sand thing?” the man with dark hair asked.

“Ya,” Peter muttered, straining to remember, “I was… the Sandman… Something spooked him and he… he hit me? I don’t think I had time to move.” The world was spinning slightly. He just wanted to go to bed.

“He did? We didn’t see him hit you, and we were fighting him for quite a while.” the girl said staring at him from the ground.

Peter frowned, “Why would you try and fight it-” Peter’s eyes widened, “I was trying to talk to him because you can’t just fight sand. He… he looked like he was going to talk to me, and we could have worked it out… then he hit me off of the building. The something that scared him was you guys…”

The man with blond hair frowned at him, “Sandman, as you call him, was destroying the city.”

“Yes! You guys were the ones who spooked him. You are the reason he snapped and literally hit me so hard I flew a block!” Spider-Man exclaimed, eyes narrowing at, the now remembered, Defenders, “Why on Earth did you think it was a good idea to try and fight sand. _Sand._ I’m not even stupid enough to try and fight a not so inanimate object. And I am literally known as someone who tries to fight things that I have no chance against.”

The Defenders look a little shocked at the tone the hero on their roof was using. It was like he was berating them like a parent would a child.

“Why don’t you come down from there?” Daredevil asked, his voice more like Matt than his alter ego, “You have a pretty bad head wound. Why don’t you come down and rest? Your suit said that it was unable to contact anyone, so I can get you a phone to call who you need to.”

Spider-Man tilted his head at Daredevil, “Why was Karen talking to you?”

Before Daredevil could respond, Karen interjected, “As I was unable to contact Mr. Stark, and unable to treat your wounds. I relied on the Defenders to help you.”

The black-haired man snorted, “After threatening us with ‘lethal force.’”

“Karen. We’ve talked about your use of lethal force and how that’s a hard no. We can’t just go around killing people, Karen.” Peter scolded.

“Do not worry. I never intended to use it. It was just a way to ensure that they would keep your identity safe.” Karen retorted.

“My _what_?” Spider-Man practically shouted, prompt falling off of the roof and back onto the couch.

“Please don’t panic,” Blondie said, “None of us saw your face.”

Peter calmed down a little but was still on guard. He had heard very few things about the team. He did know that they were well known around New York and that they were known for mostly doing good things, despite all of them being wanted by the police at one point or another.

That did not mean that he trusted them with his identity by any means.

“Here,” the girl said, “You can use my phone.”

She practically shoved the phone at Peter before wandering into the kitchen.

Peter quickly dialed Tony’s number, hoping the man would pick up. When he didn’t pick up, he called again, and again. Finally, someone answered.

“I don’t know how you got this number, but you need to stop calling it now.” Peter recognized Happy’s voice on the other end.

“Happy! It’s me, Spidey.” Peter quickly explained. There was a pause on the other end.

“Where the _hell_ have you been! Tony’s been worried sick, your aunt has phoned thirty times looking for you, and I am not impressed. It’s one thing not to answer your phone, but a whole nother to shut your suit down. We are going to have a chat about this when I find you.” Happy rambled on for the next few minutes.

Peter tried to ignore the glances from the others, as Happy’s yelling was abundantly clear in the quiet space.

“I’m really sorry, Happy.” Peter apologized, “I didn’t mean to make everyone worry. If you could come pick me up, that would be great. I’m… uh… not doing too hot. I’m… well, I’m not exactly sure where I am.”

“Tell your friend to meet you at the docks nearest to Hell’s Kitchen. I’ll get you over there,” Daredevil responded from the kitchen.

Peter quickly relayed the information to Happy. The man yelled at him for a few more minutes before telling Peter he would be there in an hour. He hung up before Peter had a chance to respond.

“I’m really sorry to be taking up your space, but my ride won’t be here for another hour. Is it ok if I stay for that long? If not, that’s totally fine.” Peter stammered, looking down at the phone in his hand.

“Of course.” Daredevil replied, “And no offense to you guys, but the rest of you, out.”

The others groaned but didn’t put up a fight. All of them patted the red devil’s shoulders as they left through the front door calling out various goodbyes.

Peter felt immediately uncomfortable as the two red-clad hero’s stood alone in the apartment. The Devil sat down in one of the chairs in the living room, staring Peter down.

“Let’s make a deal.” Daredevil said simply, “I’ll take off my mask, and you’ll take off yours so I can get a better… look… at your wounds. That way I won’t have to send you home looking like I didn’t take care of you. How does that sound?”

Matt felt the kid nod slowly, but his heart was racing. He didn’t trust Matt, not that he could blame the kid.

Slowly, Matt unclipped his mask and pulled it from his head.

He felt the kid’s eyes widen as he saw Matt’s eyes, but he didn’t comment.

Holding out a hand, Matt introduced himself, “I’m Matt.”

 

Spider-Man didn’t hesitate. He leaned forward and shook Matt’s hand, “I’m Peter.”


	2. The Art of Getting Bullied (Despite being an enhanced individual) and all the Fun it Entails

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The show droned on as Michelle and Peter sat quietly together. Soon enough, both were fast asleep. Michelle was on Peter’s shoulder, and Peter’s head was resting on hers.  
> It felt like the calm before the storm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I have decided to continue this story. This chapter is more about Michelle and Peter than anything else. Please enjoy!

“They grounded me. Tony and Aunt May grounded me, Ned.” Peter whimpered, banging his head on the lunch table, “May hates Tony, and they still managed to team up and ground me for my ‘disappearing act’. Which, by the way, wasn’t even my fault. They took my suit away  and gave me a curfew of ten. What even is life?”

 

Ned didn’t respond. Instead, he simply laughed at the teenager across from him. 

“Do you know what, Ned. You’re as bad as them. Maybe worse! You are a bystander in my suffering,” Peter pouted as Ned laughed even harder.

The bell rang signaling the end of lunch. Ned finally got control of his laughing as they headed for their separate classes. Of course, it couldn’t be as simple as simply walking to class.

Turning the down the hall, Peter accidentally bumped into Flash’s newest addition to his torment group: Harry Osborn. Harry had transferred to the school at the beginning of the year. As soon as he walked through the door, Flash had scooped him up.

Somehow, Osborn was even more cruel than Flash. Fortunately, Peter had avoided his wrath for the most part. Harry tended to pick on people even lower on the social food chain on him, and there was only so many of those.

“Well,” Harry said, a sly grin coming onto his face as he closed his locker, “you must be the famous Penis Parker.”

A dull throb started at the back of Peter’s head and Harry looked him up and down like a hunter would its prey. His Spider senses were telling him to run.

“I’m sorry,” Peter mumbled, trying to walk around him.

Harry grabbed him before he got too far, pushing Peter back in front of him, “Did I say you could go anywhere?”

Peter didn’t respond. The last of the students were clearing the halls as the warning bell rang. A few of Flash’s gang stuck around, eyeing Peter like Harry had. Peter’s urge to run got stronger as Harry reopened his locker and started pulling things out. His backpack, a textbook, and a water bottle. Each in slow motion.

“You know,” Harry sighed, “I was hoping I would like you. Flash made you sound much funnier than you actually are. Disappointing.”

Harry leaned out from behind his locker and sent Peter one last smirk. Then, he slammed the front of his locker into Peter’s face. It had taken everything Peter had not to jump back when his senses told him too. 

The locker hit his face with a sickening crack, forcing Peter to the ground. The still sensitive cut on the back of his head hit the ground causing everything to spin.

Peter only heard the laughter as everyone headed to class, leaving him alone in the too white hallway.

It was too bright, almost blinding. And the footsteps of Harry and his goons were echoing in his ear like they were falling bowling pins. Something was clearly wrong.

Shaking, Peter managed to lift himself off of the floor, only to nearly fall back down as the hallway continued to spin. There was a dripping noise coming from somewhere. It sounded like it was next to his ear.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Someone was also talking in his ear. Talking about Hamlet, and the symbolism in Ophelia’s death. Peter turned to see who it was, but there was no one there. More whispering. This time about Tina’s outfit, and how it made her look like she was ‘a cow.’

Something was seriously wrong.

He needed to get to the bathroom. It was quiet in the bathrooms at this time. No teachers let their students go this soon after lunch. There wouldn’t be any whispering voices there.

Using the lockers as support, Peter slowly made his way down the still spinning hall to the bathrooms, each step sounding like a gunshot. Even the sound of his fingers brushing against the lockers sounded like metal on metal.

Something was wrong. So so wrong.

The bathroom was, surprisingly, not any better. Peter could hear the water running through the pipes, and the  smell.

Peter slid down the wall next to the sink and covered his ears, trying not to be sick. He had known about his advanced senses since the moment he had gotten his powers, but they had never been this strong before.

Taking a few deep breaths through his mouth (he did  not  need to smell this place again) and took a handoff of his ear. He flinched at the amount of noise that bombarded him. Quickly, he got his phone from his pocket and scrolled through his contacts, trying to find Ned’s name. It was hard given how fast the world was spinning. Peter was pretty sure his text was unreadable, but he hoped Ned would understand.

hlp. Est bath. Somting wrng.

As soon as he hit send, he dropped his much too expensive Starkphone and covered his ear again. 

Was he crying? Something wet was hitting his skin. Was it the taps?

Something was wrong.

Finally, the bathroom door swung open, grinding on its hinges. Someone walked in, but Peter couldn’t look up. Everything was too much.

Whoever had entered was talking, but it was too loud. Whoever had been talking stopped and sat down next to Peter. They were wearing some sort of citrusy perfume. Not Ned then.

The person wrapped their arms around Peter and rocked them gently.

They sat like that for a long while. It seemed like years before the spinning settled, and the noise settled to a tolerable level.

“You do realize you have blood everywhere, right?” asked a familiar voice.

“MJ?” came Peter’s response as he finally looked up to the girl beside him, “Why are you here? In the boys bathroom?”

Michelle answered as she got up and grabbed some paper towel, “Slightly disturbing text messages does that to a girl. I’ll assume the face has to do with Flash?”

“Close. Harry Osborn. Decided I was disappointing and slammed a locker into my face. I think I may have hit my head as I fell, and it caused a… panic attack?” It wasn’t supposed to be questioned.

MJ gave Peter a look that said, ‘I don’t believe you in the slightest,’ “Sure. Clean yourself up. I’ll get you down to the office.” She tossed the paper towel at the boy on the floor.

“I don’t need to go to the office. I need to get to English class.” Peter muttered, trying to get the blood off of his face.

MJ snorted, “Dude, you are literally bleeding from… everywhere. And I think your nose is broken, and the back of your head is bleeding, and you have blood under your nails. So either you are really injured, or you murdered someone. I would definitely respect you more if you murdered someone, but I don’t think you have it in you.”

With a slight groan, Peter managed to get himself off of the floor and standing. He gave MJ a small smile, and limped to the door, his ribs still hurting from his fight with the Sandman.

With a sigh, MJ walked up to him and looped her arm around his waist, “Come on. I’m going to take you home. You are in no shape to be in school right now.”

The two managed to sneak off of school grounds, grab a cab, and make it to Peter’s apartment with minimal effort. Getting up the stairs (Because of  course the elevator was broken) was a bit of a pain, but they made it (They may have collapsed as soon as they got to the top. Peter weighted a lot more than people expected.)

“Ok you nerd,” MJ stated as they got into Peter’s apartment, “Go get changed and clean up a little. You look like a wreck.”

Peter nodded and headed off to his room, leaving MJ in the living room, splayed out on the couch.

_________

****  
  


Michelle really liked Peter’s apartment. It was… homey. It actually looked like it was lived in, unlike her house. There were pages scattered across the coffee table, and it was super tempting to go through them. But, MJ did have some idea of decency. Instead, she pulled out her sketchbook.

She started to sketch the way Peter had looked in the bathroom. Between his sobs and all the blood, it had been a bit disturbing. Then again, Peter was one of the first friends she had ever had. The moments of them on the floor in the bathroom was definitely something that would define their friendship, and she didn’t want to forget it.

****  
  


So, she began sketching. Peter was taking a while, but she was pretty sure Harry had broken his nose, so that made sense.

What didn’t make sense is why she answered Peter’s phone when it began ringing. Ya, she knew it was probably rude but wasn’t it ruder to ignore a ringing phone?

“Peter’s phone, this is Michelle,” she said, relaxing into the couch.

“Um…” the voice from the other end hesitated, “Hi there. Is Peter ok?”

“Oh ya. He’s fine. Just getting all the all the blood out of his clothes. All I can say is that it wasn’t murder.” Michelle said as seriously as she could.

There was a moment of silence on the other end, and Michelle couldn’t help but smile. She had always had the gift of stunning people to silence.

“Anyways, Mr…” MJ pulled back the phone to see who was calling, “Matt. Or whatever your name is, what can I do for you?”

“Sorry, I guess I should have introduced myself. I’m Matthew Murdock. I was just calling to check in on Peter?” He sounded like it was a question, not an answer. That wasn’t what Michelle focused on, though.

“No way. Are you  the Matthew Murdock? Of Nelson and Murdock?” Michelle asked, excitement creeping into her voice.

“I am?”

Michelle was really excited now, “Dude! You guys are like my heroes! You guys actually fight for the little guys! Do you know how cool that is?”

“Thank you,” Matt replied, confusion still in his voice.

“Question,” Michelle started as Peter walked out in a clean shirt, “Does your office offer any internships? I’ve been looking into civil rights for after high school.”

“Is that my phone?” Peter asked, his voice full of panic, “Why are you on my phone? Who are you talking to?”

At the same time Matt explained the situation at their firm, “Unfortunately, we don’t have the funds to be able to finance an intern.”

A smirk made it’s way to Michelle’s face as Peter tried to get the phone back from her, “I don’t need to be paid. I could be like- Peter  chill \- an office assistant. I know a bit about law, and I would be happy to sign any non-disclosure agreements. Peter, you can have your phone back in a moment!”

Matt thought about it for a moment before replying, “How about this. I will talk to my partners, and if they are ok with it, you can come in for an interview.”

“Seriously? Thank you so much! You are so awesome!” Michelle gushed.

Matt let out a laugh, “Thank you. It was lovely talking to you. If you wouldn't mind getting Peter to call me back later, that would be wonderful.”

The two said their goodbyes, Michelle still smiling.

“You have some weird friends, Petey.” Michelle said to the confused boy, “Do you have Netflix? I’m feeling like some Netflix.”

Peter opened his mouth and closed it again without saying a word. Instead, he plopped down next to Michelle on the couch and quickly turned on Netflix. They decided on ‘How to Get Away With Murder.’

The show droned on as Michelle and Peter sat quietly together. Soon enough, both were fast asleep. Michelle was on Peter’s shoulder, and Peter’s head was resting on hers.

It felt like the calm before the storm.

___________________

****  
  


Aunt May was only slightly unimpressed when she arrived home to two sleeping teenagers, one of which was slightly more bruised than she had left it.

She was slightly more unimpressed when she found out why her kid was more bruised.

Any other time she would have been happy to have, the newly introduced, Michelle for dinner, but she grounded Peter, and damn it, he was going to be grounded. (Not that she really knew what grounding entailed. This was the first time she had ever grounded the kid.)

Instead, she shooed the teenagers out, telling Peter to be polite and walk the girl home. With a sigh, May started on the meatloaf for the night's dinner.

____________________

“So, perfect Peter,” MJ teased, “How did you manage to get grounded?”

Peter let out a groan, his head falling forward, “Long story short, I may or may not have forgotten to tell my aunt that I was staying over at… Ned’s.”

Michelle gave Peter a look that he couldn’t identify. The two walked down the dark streets, chatting idly about school and work. It was a fairly quiet night.

They stopped outside a fancier apartment building. Michelle turned to Peter and looked him in the eye. Her brown eyes seemed to be looking straight into his soul.

“Look,” she said, still staring into his eyes, “I haven’t had a whole lot of experiences with friends, but I’m pretty sure if one friend is worried about another friend than that friend has the responsibility to tell that friend that they are worried.”

“Wait, what?” Peter asked, head tipping in confusion.

MJ sighed, “Peter, as your friend, I am saying that I am worried about you. We’ve been hanging out for a while now, and I’ve seen your bruises. Now normally I couldn’t care less, but supposedly friends are supposed to care, so is someone hurting you? Taking advantage of you at your internships? Anything like that?”

“What? No! No one is hurting me. I promise. Scout’s honor.”

Michelle’s eyes narrowed slightly, “Ok, Parker, but I’ve got my eyes on you. I have pepper spray and I would be more than happy to use it on anyone who needs it. I won’t even ask why.  Anyways, I should probably go. Let me know when you get home.”

With that, MJ entered her apartment building, leaving Peter alone on the street. For some reason, he still felt her eyes on him. Those beautiful hazel eyes…

Nope. Peter refused to go down that road. He had been there less than a year before and that turned into an absolute disaster. Liz’s dad was a huge criminal. So what would MJ’s parents be like? Mass murderers? Serial arsons? Kitten killers?

Peter shook his head, trying to get the tingly feelings to go away (although that just might have been his body trying to stitch itself back together.) Michelle was a great friend, and nothing more. She was like the female version on Ned. That’s all she was.

Yes.

Yep.

Totally.

 

He was so screwed.


	3. The Art of Nearly Drowning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Yep.” Happy replied. As Peter reached out to grab the package, Happy pulled it away, starring Peter down, “Remember the rules. Keep your aunt updated. Don’t do anything stupid. Don’t stay out late on a school night.”

“Do you have your résumé? Cover letter? References?”   
  
“Are they in a nice folder? They always appreciate nice folders?”   
  
“Are you sure you want to wear those shoes? I like them, don’t get me wrong, but are they professional enough?”   
  
“Maybe you should tie your hair up… I heard that makes you look more professional. Does it make you more professional?”   
  
“Will you both shut it!” MJ finally snapped at her friends, “You are both, like, really shitty mothers. The shittiest of mothers.”   
  
“I’m sorry, M,” Ned mumbled, looking a little dejected, “We’ve just never seen you so excited about something. Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you excited about anything.”   
  
“Exactly!” Peter pitched in, “As we are your friends, we care about your happiness, and if your happiness is hanging out with old lawyers then we will help you hang out with them.”   
  
Instead of answering, Michelle just flipped him the bird.   
  
The three were crammed into Peter’s bathroom, trying to get Michelle ready for her interview. Her hair was down, and she was actually wearing makeup (May had let her borrow some. She was becoming much too invested in Peter’s female friend.) And, surprisingly, she was wearing some very nice clothes. She did still have a bit of spunk. MJ had the classic black blazer and dress pants, but she was still wearing her colorful sneakers and some bright bracelets around her wrists.   
  
Ned glanced at his watch, “We should probably go. It’s better to be early than late.”   
  
Michelle rolled her eyes, “Ok, mom. And like I said, I can go by myself. I’m not some poor helpless princess. I can take care of myself.”   
  
Peter laughed, “I know that, but my Aunt is insistent. She likes you for whatever reason, and she has declared that we have to walk you down there. And no offense, but May scares me so much more than you.”   
  
“Well, then, let’s roll,” MJ said, picking up her stuff and heading towards the front door.   
  
The two boys scrambled after her without hesitating. Michelle stood at the door, a wicked smile on her face. As Peter passed through the door, MJ threw a punch at his arm.   
  
“Ow- What was that for,” Peter complained, rubbing his arm.   
  
“For saying you didn’t know why your aunt likes me. She likes me because I am the envy of everyone, and don’t you forget it, Parker,” MJ said simply, walking out the door.   
  
_____________   
  
  
The walk to Hell’s Kitchen was uneventful. Michelle described the various ways she would murder the, somehow even more horrible, Harry Osborn. Since the locker incident, Harry had increased his aggression towards Peter.   
  
So far on the list of horrible things Harry had done, that not even Flash would have dreamed of doing was: stuffing him in a locker (x3), ‘accidently’ spilling food on him at lunch (x2), stealing his normal clothes during gym, forcing Peter to wear his gym clothes for the rest of the day, throwing paint filled balloons at him at the beginning of the day (x2), and last, but not least, somehow getting fish in his locker on Friday, and having it sit all weekend.   
  
It had only been a week.   
  
Peter had gotten good at ignoring Flash over the years, but Harry was impossible to ignore. It felt like he was trying to push Peter to a snapping point.   
  
Michelle was convinced that Harry was trying to get Peter to punch him (because he’s a masochist) while Ned was convinced that he just wanted to see Peter break down and throw himself out a window.   
  
Peter was pretty sure they were both right. Harry wanted Peter to punch him, and then throw himself out of a window.   
  
“What if I just flat-out pepper spray him?” Michelle queried. Ned, being the traitor that he was, nodded in agreement.   
  
Peter sighed, “Michelle, no. We’ve been through this. You don’t fight violence with violence. You fight violence with… with… not violence.”

  
“Great argument there, Pete.” Michelle responded, shaking her head, “I promise I won’t hurt him too bad-”   
  
“No.”   
  
The three continued on, finally stopping in front of an old office building that looked like it was literally falling apart.   
  
“Are you sure this is safe, MJ,” Ned asked, squirming a bit, “I know this is one of Peter’s friends and all, but I don’t want you getting kidnapped or anything.”   
  
“We’ll be at that café we passed when you’re done,” Peter said, sending Michelle a big smile.   
  
With a final wave, Michelle headed into the building.   
  
__________________   
  
  
It wasn’t hard to find the Nelson and Murdock office. Sure Michelle walked through every floor trying to find it, but potato, patahto.   
  
A pretty blond was sitting at the main desk. She smiled at Michelle as she walked in.   
  
“Hello! You must be Michelle. I’m Karen, the receptionist among other things here!”   
  
Michelle only cringed a little at Karen. Karen seemed like one of those preppy girls that plagued the school and faked being happy and cheerful just so teachers would like them. But for some reason, the way Karen shook MJ’s hand, showed that maybe she was just a cheerful, nice lady.   
  
“Matt and Foggy are running a little late. I would offer you a seat but -um-” Karen gestured to the empty room.   
  
Michelle smiled at her, “It’s no worries.” There were several moments of uncomfortable silence at the two women to figure out the best way to start a conversation, “So, what brought you here, Karen?”   
  
“Well, as I don’t want to scare you off too soon, I’ll give you the short story. I found some information on the previous company I worked for that I wasn’t supposed to. This firm got me out of trouble, so I came to work for them,” Karen explained, “I used to work here full-time, but now I split my time as a journalist and here.”   
  
“Sounds like you have a quite the busy plate,” Michelle remarked, looking around the office.   
  
“I like having a busy plate, to be honest, it keeps me out of trouble.”   
  
The two idly chatted for the next twenty minutes. Karen talked about her journalism works, while Michelle talked about school. It was refreshing for the both of them to talk to people of their own gender.   
  
“I hope you get hired here, Michelle. It really would be nice to have a non-testosterone filled human being in here. It gets a little much between the two in here.” Karen sighed, “You’d think after creating a company together the two would learn to get along.”   
  
“Are you talking about us, Karen,” a voice said from the doorway, “How rude, especially in front of a potential co-worker. We shouldn’t scare her away too fast.” he reached out a hand, “I’m Foggy Nelson, and you must be Michelle Jones.”   
  
“It’s a pleasure, Mr. Nelson,” Michelle replied, shaking his hand, “And it’s pleasure meeting you in person, Mr. Murdock.”   
  
“Please, call me Matt. After our phone conversation, I think we are close enough to call each other by our first names.” Matt said a smile on his face.

  
Foggy waved MJ into the conference room, the other two following behind. MJ placed her folder on the table. She was sitting on one side, while the other three were sitting on the opposite. MJ assumed it was an intimidation tactic, but she knew what she was doing,   
  
“So, Miss. Jones.” Foggy started, “There are plenty of law firms out there that would love a smart, young lady like yourself. So my question is, why Nelson and Murdock?”   
  
Michelle smirked a little. This one was an easy one, “Well, most firms pride themselves on the amount of money they earn each year. This firm is different. You pride yourselves on helping people, often people who can’t help themselves. I think that is honorable considering how bad this country has become in terms of our legal system and the incarceration of innocent people, especially African-Americans. And I believe, of anyone, you guys could cause positive change.”   
  
Foggy and Matt gave each other (what Michelle hopes) is an impressed look.   
  
Matt asks the next question, “What can you bring to our office?”   
  
“How’s your website doing?” Michelle asked back.   
  
Karen looked confused, “We don’t have one?”   
  
“Exactly. I don’t mean to offend, but if you want clients, having a website is necessary. If I knew nothing about lawyers, the first thing I would do is Google it. Having an internet presence is going to be a big help, and fortunately, I know how to make a website. On top of that, I would be happy to help fix up your office. Again, no offense, but it’s kinda sketchy in here. I also have a basic understanding of the law, which of course, in this case, would probably be a useful attribute to have.”   
  
“How about your schedule?” Foggy asked, looking through her résumé.   
  
“Well, of course, I have school to worry about, and decathlon practice after school Monday, Wednesday, Friday, but other than that, I am pretty much always free.”   
  
Matt and Foggy sent MJ a smile. Closing her folder, Foggy continued on, “Thank you so much for coming in today, Michelle. We will contact you as soon as we make a decision.”   
  
“Thank you very much for your time, Mr. Nelson. Matt. Karen.”   
  
Michelle shook everyone’s hands and headed out the door. As soon as she was out on the street, she let out a breath. It had much more stressful than she thought it would be. MJ had gone in feeling like no matter what happened she would be ok with it, but after meeting Karen and the boys, she felt like she needed this job. Like she was meant to be working at Nelson and Murdock, even if it was just cleaning and making a website.   
  
“Pull yourself together, Jones,” Michelle mumbled to herself. With one last sigh, she headed down the street to the café Ned and Peter were waiting at.   
_____________   
  
“Hey, MJ! How’d it go!” Peter asked as she made herself at home at their table, her feet swinging up onto Peter’s lap.   
  
MJ snorted in response, “Do you even know me, Parker?”   
  
“Is that an answer?” Ned asked, his eyes squinting in confusion, “It was wasn’t it? Why do you have to talk in cryptic messages.”   
  
“I think she means it went well? Maybe?” Peter replied.   
  
Michelle didn’t elaborate, just ordered a plain coffee from the waitress. She started picking at both Peter’s and Ned’s scones, ignoring both their glares.   
  
“Was everyone nice?” Ned asked as MJ got her coffee.   
  
“Yep,” MJ said simply, sipping her drink

  
“You are insufferable,” Ned sighed in response.   
  


By the time they left the café, the sun had begun to set. The trio walked closely together as the nightlife began to come to life. They dropped off Ned first and headed on to MJ’s apartment.   
  
“I forgot to thank you guys for coming.” MJ said as she and Peter stood outside her apartment building, “I’ll have to send a text to Ned later but… Thank you.”   
  
With one last smile, MJ headed inside   
  
________________   
  
  
Peter was a little surprised to see a familiar sleek car sitting in the parking lot. It had only been a week since his grounding, and Tony only sent Happy for Spider-Man related things. Never Peter related things.   
  
As he approached the car, Happy came out of it, package in hand. “Peter,” he greeted simply.   
  
“Hey, Happy. What are you doing here?” Peter asked.   
  
Happy let out a sigh, “Starks wants me to deliver you an upgraded suit. And before you say anything, he talked with May and figured out your grounding so that you can still go out as… you. You will just need to do some dishes or something like that. Tony knows May has your other one tucked away somewhere, but you can return that one whenever you get a chance.”   
  
“Really?” Peter said, excitement creeping into his voice.   
  
“Yep.” Happy replied. As Peter reached out to grab the package, Happy pulled it away, starring Peter down, “Remember the rules. Keep your aunt updated. Don’t do anything stupid. Don’t stay out late on a school night.”   
  
“Awe, it almost sounds like you care, Happy.” Peter teased.   
  
Happy snorted at that but handed the package over nonetheless. With a quick goodbye, Happy was off into the night.   
  
Ever since Peter had saved (by destroying) Tony’s plane, his and Happy’s antagonistic relationship had taken a turn for the better. Happy didn’t always ignore his messages now, and in return, Peter didn’t send him texts every day. Happy usually treated Peter like an adult now. Peter appreciated that more than anything.   
  
Without hesitation, Peter rushed inside. Yes, it had only been a week since his suit was taken away, but it had felt like an eternity.   
  
Aunt May was still at work, so Peter had quickly written a note explaining where he would be. Then, he changed into his new suit.   
  
It was mostly the same: Karen was still there, his web shooters were as complicated as ever, as his mask did a great job of filtering everything. But now it was connected to a police scanner, and the inside was much softer and warmer. Not that Peter would ever complain about his other suit, but this one was so much comfier.   
  
Something else Peter would never complain about was the rush he felt as he swung through the city. It was unexplainably thrilling. The closest comparison he could come up with was it felt like riding a roller coaster with no seat belts.   
  
“Hey, Karen? Would you mind calling up Matt?” Peter asked, still soaring through the air.   
  
“Of course, Peter,” Karen replied.   
  
Peter patiently waited for Matt to pick up, “Hey! It’s Peter! What are you up to tonight? Because I’m out and about spidering it up, and I would love to talk to you when I am not suffering from a concussion.”   
  
“I thought you were grounded from Spider-Man for another week?” Matt questioned, referring to a conversation they had earlier that week.   
  
Peter let out a laugh as he tumbled through the air, “It pays off to be a good kid every once in a while.”   
  
“Well then, I was already planning to go out tonight. Would you like to officially meet the others while we are at it?” Matt asked, a shout of terror making its way through the phone.   
  
“Sure… are you fighting while you are talking to me?” a cry of pain from someone in the background answered Peter’s question.   
  
“57th street in an hour?”   
  


“I can do that,” Peter replied, “Please be nice to those poor criminals.”   
  
With that, Matt hung up, leaving Peter to his own devices. He figured an hour would be plenty of time to check in on Ms. Clark, and maybe stop a few petty crimes. It all depended on how chatty Ms. Clark was feeling.   
  
Making a 180 turn (he may have shown off just a little by doing a backflip instead of turning properly, but who could blame him. He was back!) he headed back the way he came.   
  
Ms. Clark was in her apartment kitchen, happily cooking away. Peter gently knocked at her window, and the old woman looked up from her mixing bowl. A smile graced her face as she saw who was waiting at her window.   
  
“Mr. Spider-Man! It’s lovely to see you,” Ms. Clark greeted as she opened the window for the hero.   
  
“Hey, Ms. Clark,” Peter replied, sitting down on her window ledge, “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help with your groceries this week. I got into a bit of trouble.”

  
The old lady let out a chiming laugh, “You kids are always getting into trouble these days. And there’s no need to worry. I saw you on the news getting crushed by that sand demon. I’m happy you took some days to recover, my dear.”   
  
“Can I help you out with anything. Since I missed our grocery appointment?” Peter asked, swinging his legs slightly.   
  
“Actually, there is,” Ms. Clark hobbled over to her pantry. After rummaging through it, she pulled out several large containers, “If you wouldn’t mind taking these off of me. I don’t want them to go bad, and I wouldn’t be able to eat them all,” Peter tried to jump in and tell her that she didn’t have to give all of them to him, but she quickly shushed him, “All I ask is that you bring back my containers. These are Ziploc containers. The nice kind.”   
  
“Don’t worry Ms. C. I’ll bring them back as soon as I can.”   
  
The lady packed the containers into a plastic bag and handed them over to Spider-Man. In return, he kissed (well as much as one can kiss in a mask) her cheek goodbye and swung back into the night.   
  
Ms. Clark left her window open behind him. Peter perched himself on a nearby rooftop and listened. Soon, a song made its way up to Peter.   
  
Ms. Clark had one of the most beautiful voices he had ever heard. It was like silk. Peter wondered if she had ever been a famous singer in her younger years.

  
_ How many roads must a man walk down _ _   
_ _ Before you can call him a man? _ _   
_ _ How many seas must a white dove sail _ _   
_ _ Before she sleeps in the sand? _ _   
_ _ Yes, how many times must the cannonballs fly _ _   
_ _ Before they're forever banned? _ _   
_ _ The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind _ _   
_ _ The answer is blowin' in the wind. _ _   
_   
Peter let himself get lost her music for a moment. Just a moment. Then, he threw himself off of the building. He still had a half an hour to get down to 57th. It was plenty of time.   
  
___________________   
  
  
Well, it would have been plenty of time if people hadn’t decided to rob a jewelry store. And started shooting at the police. And since it was Peter’s not so civic duty to help, as he was super-human, he stepped in to help. He quickly webbed his bag of goodies to the side of the building and chased after the car.

  
“Holy,” Peter mumbled to himself, trying not to get hit with the bullets raining from the car, “Is the driver shooting and driving.”   
  
“It seems so, Peter. Shall I activate instant kill mode to help you deal with these criminals?” Karen asked. If it was possible for AI to sound excited, Karen would have at the idea of instant kill mode.   
  
“How about we go easy on the killing. And maybe we should have a chat about your homicidal tendencies, Karen.”   
  
As soon as the two guns made their way back inside to presumably reload, Spider-Man launched himself onto the car, sticking to the trunk.   
  
“Oh, fuck! It’s Spider-Man!” someone yelled from inside the car.   
  
Nearly instantly, the driver began to swerve all over the road, trying to throw Peter off. He clung to the slippery car for dear life. Yes, the new suit was nice, but it was obviously thicker. He was having a hard time staying attached. Unless for some reason they soaked the car in oil. Then that would explain why he was sliding around. For some reason, Peter assumed it was the first reason.   
  
Both the driver and the passenger began shooting out the back window, still swerving all over the road.   
  
“Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap,” Peter swore under his breath, trying to keep himself as flat as he could to the trunk of the car.   
  
“Is he fucking dead yet?” the driver yelled, looking over his shoulder.   
  
In that moment, several things happened all at once.   
  
Peter felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. The driver let out a whoop of joy, watching the blood seep out of the Spider’s shoulder.   
  
While this was happening, the driver was still looking over his shoulder. His steering wheel was still turned to the right.   
  
The passenger had let out a cry of terror as the car veered off of the road, over the rail, and into the freezing waters of the East River.

  
Peter froze as he hit the water. He was still sticking to the vehicle (which was a miracle in itself). The water was so murky that Peter could barely see the car, even with his abilities.   
  
If this was bad for a super-enhanced individual, he couldn’t imagine what the normals in the front were feeling.   
  
As quickly as he could (which wasn’t very fast at all. Peter had never been a good swimmer, and unfortunately his powers hadn’t helped that aspect of his life) Peter swam to the front of the vehicle. The passenger was conscious, yanking at his seatbelt. The driver was out.   
  
Peter managed to unbuckle the driver's seat belt with little difficulty, but the passenger's seat belt was jammed. It took three full-strength yanks to get it undone. The fear in the passenger’s eyes was bright, even through the water.   
  
Without hesitating, Peter gathered the two men in his arms and swam towards, what he assumed, was the surface. Peter was quickly losing focus as oxygen deprivation was beginning to set in. He wanted to take a breath. HIs lungs were burning. He just wanted to breathe.   
  
They broke the surface. It was even colder in the air. Even his breaths burned like ice.   
  
Peter managed to get the two men to the nearest docks. The police were further down the pier, flashlights shining in the water. They didn’t notice the three of them swimming in the water. And Peter didn’t have the energy to call out for help.   
  
Spider-Man threw the passenger up first and managed to pull both himself and the driver up afterward. The three just laid there. Peter kind of wished he could see the stars. Nearly drowning did that to a person

  
It was then that he noticed he could only hear one other person breathing.   
  
“Crap,” Peter exclaimed, leaning over the driver’s body, “Karen, how do I do CPR without crushing his lungs with my…”   
  
“I’m sorry, Peter. I don’t know how to help you,” Karen replied, sounding guilty.   
  
Peter thought back to years ago when they had covered CPR in health class.   
  
“Oh god,” Peter whispered, starting CPR, “Attempting to help is better than nothing. Attempting to help is better than nothing.”

  
After thirty compressions, Peter peeled back his mask, tilted the man’s head back, and breathed into him three times. Then, he started compressions again.   
  
On the third set of compressions, he heard yelling behind him. Flashlights ran over the trio. Peter ignored everything happening behind him and focused on the man below him.   
  
Someone touched his shoulder, but Peter ignored it.   
  
On the thirtieth compression, he again leaned over and breathed into the man again.   
  
Someone whispered behind him, “What is he doing. That man doesn’t have a chanc-”   
  
On Peter’s second breath the man jerked forward and coughed up water. Peter quickly rolled him onto his side. The man continued coughing.

  
Finally, getting a break Peter collapsed on the ground and just caught his breath. The officers moved around him and arrested the two men, loading them into an ambulance when it arrived.   
  
Peter could hear the officers whispering about him, but he still chose to ignore it. Maybe he had time for a nap. A nap sounded wonderful. The cops seemed to like him, so odds were they would just leave him be. Actually. Maybe it was time for bed.   
  
Spider-Man shot up in realization, scarring the few officers that were milling about.   
  
“Sorry, I’ve got to run. Good work tonight, men!” Peter shot his webs, about to take off.   
  
“Wait!” one of the officers yelled, “Can you at least provide a statement about what happened?”   
  
“I’ll be at a police station tomorrow at four to answer any questions,” Peter stated, swinging off into the night.   
  
So much for being on time.

  
  



	4. The Defenders Aren't the Worst

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I really do believe you can help him, Peter.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the lovely comments! I love writing, and I love that you guys love my work! I hope that made some sort of sense. I'm tired. Please forgive, this not very well written chapter, I just needed to get some things out of the way.

“This is ridiculous.” Jessica mumbled, rubbing her arms in trying to warm up, “I thought the Spider-Kid was supposed to be here an hour ago, Red.”   
  
  
  
She hadn’t meant to snap at Matt, but she was cold, running out of alcohol, and had no energy to deal with a teenager. Danny, as per usual, wasn’t helping either.   
  
  
  
“You should try meditating, Jess. It might help you to relax,” he said dreamily from his locus position on the ground.   
  
  
  
Jess sent a glare at Danny, “And I thought monks were supposed to not be assholes.”   
  
  
  
Danny’s eyes snapped open, but before he could retort, Luke stepped in.   
  
  
  
“If you two are going to act like children, I will treat you like children and make you sit in separate corners. Don’t make me do it. I will do it.”   
  
  
  
Matt let out a chuckle as the two grumbled at Luke. He was pretty sure Jess and Danny would kill each other if Luke wasn’t there to intervene.   
  
  
  
“He’ll be soon,” Matt mentioned, his head tilting to the side, “So, Jess, please calm down, and stop glaring, Danny.”   
  
  
  
The others followed Matt’s eyesight (ear direction? Horn direction?) to see a figure in the distance swinging through the city. The three super-humans leaned over the parapet and watched as the figure swung closer, Matt simply continued leaning against the chimney, a frown making it’s way to his face.   
  
  
  
Spider-Man swung over the three Defenders, neatly did a flip, attempted to land on the roof, only to stumble and land on his back.   
  
  
  
“I brought cookies?” the hero said from the ground, letting out a huge breath. There was a moment of silence as The Defenders stared at the body on the ground.   
  
  
  
Jessica gently kicked the boy, “You smell like… The Hudson?”   
  
  
  
“East River actually,” Spider-Man sighed from the ground.   
  
  
  
“You’re bleeding,” Matt practically growled, “What happened?”   
  
  
  
Peter let out a laugh, “It’s a funny story actually. You see, I was on my way over here after visiting Mrs. Clark-”   
  
  
  
“Whose Mrs. Clark,” Danny asked.   
  
  
  
  
  
“Oh! I guess you wouldn’t know Mrs. Clark. She’s a lovely lady that I carry groceries for on Tuesdays. I was visiting her because on Tuesday I was still recovering from that massive concussion you guys gave me. Anyways, I was on my way over with plenty of time to spare, but there was a car and guns, and drowning people.’ Peter explained.   
  
  
  
“So is that what the bullet wound is from? And the gunfire?” Matt asked, rage creeping into his voice.   
  
  
  
“Ya, dude,” Peter replied, “But it’s all good. I got them after a nice swim. I do think they need to put some cleanup efforts into the river, though. It’s gross down there.”   
  
  
  
“You’re bleeding a lot,” Danny pointed out.   
  
  
  
Matt quickly pitched in, leaning over the boy, “Your wounds will get infected if you don’t get them cleaned. Especially after swimming in the river.”   
  
  
  
“Naw,” Peter grimaced as he sat up, “I haven’t even gotten sick since I became, well, me. Don’t worry my devilly friend. I’ll be fine. Anyways," he turned to the rest of The Defenders, "I’m Spider-Man. I swear my mom raised me better than this.”   
  
  
  
Luke came up first, firmly shaking the spider’s hand, “I’m Luke Cage.”   
  
  
  
“Danny Rand.”   
  
  
  
“Jessica Jones,” she said, “Why are your hands so warm?”   
  
  
  
“Oh,” Spider-Man exclaimed, “My suit has heaters buil- You are hugging me. Why are you hugging me?”   
  
  
  
Jessica had wrapped her arms around Peter and was holding him close. He looked down at the woman, then back up at the others.   
  
  
  
“She was cold,” Matt said simply.   
  
  
  
_____________________   
  
  
  
  
“Ok, this a question for everyone. Have you all really never played twenty question? Like, never? Not in high school? On Tinder? Christian Mingle? Anywhere?” Peter asked.   
  
  
  
They had decided to stay on the roof after Jessica flat out refused to let go of Peter. He assumed it had to do with the alcohol in her breath, but he wasn’t going to comment on that. They had just met. You don’t mention stuff like that after just meeting someone.   
  
  
  
  
  
Peter had suggested playing a game of twenty questions to get to know everyone. May would be overjoyed to know that he had back-up in the city if things went wrong. And what better way to get back-up than to get to know people who had superpowers like him. Unfortunately, playing twenty questions with grown adults who were (sometimes) even more secretive than he was, well, was a bit awkward.   
  
  
  
“College was more seven minutes in heaven in heaven for me,” Matt replied, cowl sitting on the ground next to him. His blank eyes staring into space.   
  
  
  
“You played seven minutes in heaven in college?” Luke asked, sounding a bit stunned, “I thought you were Catholic?”   
  
  
  
“Not your turn, Cage,” Jessica mumbled the ground, leaning on Peter, “Matty, why were you playing seven minutes in heaven when, and I quote, you are ‘a devout Catholic who sometimes punches people.’”   
  
  
  
Matt, laughed, grabbing another cookie, “Firstly, I never said that, and well, college was an interesting time for me. People had a liking for the blind lawyer. I’ve heard I’m pretty easy on the eyes.”   
  
  
  
“Was that a blind joke?” Danny asked, his eyebrow scrunching together.   
  
  
  
“Nuh, uh,” Luke nudged Danny, smiling, “My turn. Spidey, rumor on the street is that you took down an airplane a couple months back. How true is it? Because I for one, don’t believe it.”   
  
  
  
“Sorry, I agree,” Danny interjected.   
  
  
  
Jessica snorted, “No way someone as scrawny as you could take down a plane.”   
  
  
  
“Well, funny story,” Peter let out an awkward laugh, “Technically, it wasn’t me… but I may have helped bring down the plane?”   
  
  
  
“There’s a story there. I’m using my turn to ask for more details.” Danny said, leaning forwards towards Peter.   
  
  
  
“I’ll use my out.” Peter retorted.   
  
  
  
“Sorry, you used that in the first round when Jess asked who you were,” Matt pointed out.   
  
  
  
“I’ve decided you’re my least favorite, Red,” Peter pouted, “But you’re right. So I accidentally uncovered an alien underground weapons ring and-”   
  
  
  
“A what?” Matt spluttered.   
  
  
  
“Well technically they weren’t alien weapons, but weapons that were built from alien technology but that’s beside the point. Anyways, I found the man who had taken me down in Washington-”   
  
  
  
“How’d you find that out?” Luke asked.   
  
  
  
“Long story short, he was my date’s dad but-”   
  
  
  
“He was your date’s dad?” Jessica seemed extremely confused.   
  
  
  
Peter shushed the woman, “Anyways, so I found out he was going after Mr. Stark’s plane, so I followed him, got crushed under a building, and then followed him-”   
  
  
  
Matt interrupted next, “You got crushed under a building!?”   
  
  
  
“I may be scrawny, but I’m pretty strong. I was fine. But if you keep asking questions, I’ll never finish the story. So I managed to attach myself to the plane, managed to crash-land it on a beach, blew up a little bit, all that fun stuff. Saved all of Mr. Stark’s things so they didn’t get sold on the black market, and then sold on the streets, and then get hundreds of people killed.”   
  
  
  
“Did you just say you got blown up?” Luke asked.   
  
  
  
“Only a little bit. Mostly beat up, but blown up too. So, to get us off of this horrifying topic, Matt, your turn to ask a question. Preferably not about me.”   
  
  
  
Matt smiled, stealing another cookie, “Well I was going ask how I can get in contact with Mrs. Clark because she keeps her ingredients in really good condition. She is very careful about cross-contamination. But, I’ll ask Luke if it’s true he survived a gunshot to the head. The police find it quite… admirable, if it's even true.”   
  
  
  
“He can.” Jess said before Luke had a chance to answer.    
  
  
  
“How would you know,” Danny retorted, skepticism lining his voice.   
  
  
  
“Because I was the one who shot him.”   
  
  
  
There was a moment of silence as the other took that information in.   
  
  
  
“Ya… I think I’m using my turn to ask why you shot him in the head.” Peter declared.   
  
  
  
“He was being mind controlled. So I shot him,” Jessica responded in a way that made it seem like it was something anyone would do in that situation (despite it not being a situation anyone would be in.)   
  
  
  
Karen chose that moment to break in, “Peter, it is nearing ten o’clock. Given that your time management skills are someone lackluster, I would suggest you start making your way back home. Your aunt won’t be happy if you are home past your curfew.”   
  
  
  
“Do you know what Karen, not only are we going to have a chat about your homicidal tendencies, but your sarcastic remarks as well,” Peter declared, “Well, it was an honor getting to know you lovely people, but duty calls.”   
  
  
  
“I’ll come with you,” Matt said standing up and putting his cowl on.   
  
  
  
The other three gathered their things, grabbing some cookies on their way to the fire escape. Luke stayed behind for a moment.   
  
  
  
“Look, kid. I know how nasty New York to be, and I hate the idea of any kid, no matter their powers, fighting crime without back-up. If you ever need any help, ever, you can reach me here.” He held out a piece of paper, a sad smile on his face, “I’ve seen too many kids die out there. I don’t want someone trying to help this city dying like a common criminal.” With that, Luke grabbed Peter’s hand, and tucked the paper in it, holding it closed.   
  
  
  
Luke quickly followed the others down the fire escape leaving the devil and spider on the roof alone.   
  
  
  
“Well, come on then,” Matt said, standing on the edge of the roof, “Let’s get you home.”   
  
  
  
_________________   
  
  
  
  
Several small heart attacks later they were just several neighborhoods away from Peter’s home. For some reason, Matt felt the need to throw himself off of buildings like he was the one who had web shooters. Fear struck a chord every time the older man leapt off of a building without hesitation.   
  
  
  
Peter was pretty sure any normal person would be dead at this point.   
  
  
  
Matt stopped on a rooftop. Peter barely caught himself before crashing into the man.   
  
  
  
“Stay here,” he growled, before diving off of the rooftop. Almost instantly, Peter could hear the sound of a fight,   
  
  
  
Peter knew that tone. It was the same tone Mr. Stark had used hundreds of times. The same tone that Happy used every time he did something he wasn’t supposed to. The same tone May used when she brought up his ‘after-school activities.’   
  
  
  
The tone that said because he was a kid, he shouldn’t be helping people.   
  
  
  
Well. Screw Daredevil then.   
  
  
  
Without hesitating, Peter jumped into the fight below.   
  
  
  
Daredevil had already taken out one of the five men. He seemed to holding his own, but there was no way Peter was just going to stand back.   
  
  
  
“You know,” Peter said as he webbed a man’s hand to the wall, his knife fall to the ground, “bringing a knife to a… uh… super-hero fight is not recommended.”   
  
  
  
“That wasn’t your best moment,” the next criminal said, already on the ground with his arms behind his head, “Look, man, last time you caught me I was stuck to a wall for three hours. If you wouldn’t mind just webbing my hands together or whatever. I would really appreciate it. I even promise to stay off the streets this time. I am either one unlucky son of a bitch or it's fate telling me to stop being that I've run into twice in under a month. Either way, I'm out."   
  
  
  
Peter quickly obliged, trying to be as gentle as he could (who was he to try and hurt a man who was trying to turn his life around) and turned to the last two men. He quickly tackled one of them as he came up to Daredevil from behind. Peter almost managed to pin the man, but a well-placed knee to the stomach knocked Peter off.   
  
  
  
The man threw a punch at the downed Spider. Peter quickly raised his hand to block the punch. The man howled in pain as his fist hit the brick wall that was Peter’s hand.   
  
  
  
The criminal was so preoccupied with his throbbing hand that he didn’t notice the devil coming up behind him. A billy club to the head took the criminal down in an instant.   
  
  
  
“What did I tell you?” Matt hissed, a terrifying glare emerging onto his face.   
  
  
  
“Nope,” Peter snapped back, shoving off the unconscious man, “You have no right to tell me what to do.”   
  
  
  
Matt was practically shaking with anger, “We aren’t going talk about this here.”   
  
  
  
Matt quickly swung his way back up the fire escape, Peter following closely behind. The two stood on the rooftop, staring each other down. Tension was thick in the air.   
  
  
  
“Just because I’m a teenager, that doesn’t mean I’m incapable. Just because I’m a teenager, that doesn’t mean I can’t stand up for people, just like you, and every other hero does. I’m not made of glass. I can hold my own, just like you.” Peter retaliated in a deadly calm voice.   
  
  
  
Matt stood still for a moment, then his shoulders relaxed. He moved to the edge of the roof and sat down, feet swinging over the edge.   
  
  
  
“You’re right,” he said softly, “I just- I don’t want you to be in this for the wrong reasons. People don’t just start fighting crime, Peter.”   
  
  
  
Peter gingerly sat down next to Matt, “You’re right.”   
  
  
  
“Did Stark pressure you into this?” Matt asked bluntly.   
  
  
  
“No! No, of course not,” Peter exclaimed, “He probably saved my life, to be honest. I was running around in one of my aunt's old sweaters until he came along. This suit actually has some protection.”   
  
  
  
“Why did you then?”   
  
  
  
Peter hesitated for a moment, “I-I did something stupid. And no one else should have to suffer from other people’s stupid mistakes.”   
  
  
  
A comforting hand found it’s way to the middle of Peter’s back. Matt didn’t ask any more questions. He just held Peter close. Like he knew exactly what Peter meant.   
  
  
  
  
  
"The reason I ask is-" Matt hesitated, "I know more than anyone what it's like growing up a child soldier. You are young and bright and you have your whole life ahead of you. I just don't want you to throw that life away, Peter. I don't want you to be ruined because you decided to do something that no kid should have to do."   
  
  
  
  
  
"I want to do this," Peter said softly, "I've lost almost my entire family. I don't want other people to lose what I lost, especially when I can help them."   
  
  
  
Matt pulled Peter into a full hug, nearly crushing Peter, "You're a good kid, Peter."   
  
  
  
It came as a sudden shock under Matt's tight hug that he had known Matt for less than two weeks. He had just met the rest of The Defenders that night. Yet, they had shown more care, and comfort, and kindness, than Tony had the year he had known him. Matt was giving him a hug because he was willing to fight something that no sane person would. Luke had barely talked to Peter all night, yet he had handed out his number like it was nothing.   
  
  
  
Then again, that wasn’t a very fair comparison. Tony was busy. He had millions of things to do and had to keep up his reputation. He was sure if Luke was in that position, he wouldn’t have been so eager to give out his number. Besides, Happy would respond faster than Tony would, and Tony showed up to save him on more than one occasion. But he had never given Peter a hug...   
  
  
  
________________________   
  
  
  
Peter finally made his way into his apartment only a few minutes later than May had told him to be home by. Yep… just a few.   
  
  
  
The woman herself was waiting in the living room, a scowl on her face.   
  
  
  
“Hey… Sorry I’m late?” Peter said, scratching the back of his neck.   
  
  
  
“If you are going to give an excuse it better be a good one,” May replied.   
  
  
  
“Yes! I promise it’s a good one. You see, I met up with The Defenders tonight. You know? Like Daredevil, and that invincible guy from Harlem. And you see, this is a good thing, because now they’ve got my back, and I’ve got theirs. So, if I ever get in over my head, like the Vulture incident, then I can just hit them up, and say something like, ‘Hey, I’m about to get destroyed, please come help.’ And they will come and everyone lives, and no one gets hurt!” Peter quickly explained, barely stopping for a breath.   
  
  
  
  
  
surprisingly, Aunt May looked, well, happy, “That’s…. That’s really good Pete. I hate the idea of you alone out there. This is a good thing. This is a good thing.”   
  
  
  
Peter wasn’t sure when his aunt had stopped talking to him and had started muttering to herself. Taking it as a sign, he kissed her cheek goodnight and headed off towards bed, still hearing her mumbling to herself about safety issues and CPS.   
  
  
  
______________________   
  
  
  
  
“Peter! Did you hear?” Ned asked, much too excitedly.   
  
  
  
Peter let out a soft sigh, looking at his sandwich longingly, “I’m sorry, but I have no idea what you are talking about.”   
  
  
  
“Ok, ok. So you know that surprise guest speaker coming later this month? Well, rumor has it that it is going to be Otto Octavius,” Ned said proudly.   
  
  
  
“No way,” Peter gasped, “No way!”   
  
  
  
“Yes way!”   
  
  
  
Peter was more than excited to hear this. Dr. Octavius had been his hero for almost as long as Mr. Stark had. In fact, Octavius might have been more so. His research had shaken the world for years, and he had never been a part of weapon manufacturing. He had won the Nobel Peace Prize for finding a way safely dispatch nuclear radiation by the time he was twenty-two. He was incredible.   
  
  
  
Michelle slid into her normal seat next to Peter, looking between the two boys, “Why does Peter look like a fish.” She tapped his chin, causing him to close his mouth.   
  
  
  
“Otto Octavius is coming to present at the school, or so rumor has it,” Ned explained again, excitement still in his voice.   
  
  
  
“Why the hell would someone like him come here?” MJ asked.   
  
  
  
Ned leaned forward like he was sharing a secret, “Well, they say he wants to encourage kids to go into the sciences. Or something like that. Look, it doesn’t matter! It’s Otto Octavius! The man who ‘saved the world!’ Come on, MJ, get excited.”   
  
  
  
“I am excited.” she deadpanned.   
  
  
  
Peter was practically bouncing as he and Ned headed to their English class. Of course, Harry Osborn couldn’t allow Peter to be happy for more than three minutes (Peter was convinced he had a Peter-smiling sense that was like his spider-senses but used for evil instead of good.)   
  
  
  
He followed Ned and Peter down the hall, laughing. Peter ushered Ned ahead to class, waiting for Harry to make contact.   
  
  
  
“Hia, Penis,” Harry greeted as his arm wrapped too tightly around Peter’s neck, “It’s been two days since I’ve seen your ugly face. How have you been?”   
  
  
  
Peter declined to answer, trying not to claw at his neck as Harry squeezed tighter.   
  
  
  
His fore mentioned senses were going wild: Peter was so thankful that it decided to warn him of danger as he was slowly being strangled. It was very helpful. And it wasn't like he could feel it himself.   
  
  
  
“You know, Peter, it’s rude not to answer people,” Harry shoved Peter forward, pulling his backpack off as Peter fell towards the ground, “I think I’ll keep this.”   
  
  
  
“Come on,” Peter practically whined with frustration, “I need that for class.”   
  
  
  
Harry just shook his head laughing, tossing it to one of his minions, “How about no. Deal with it, Penis.”   
  
  
  
The minion put the backpack on his shoulder and walked away. Peter rubbed his face, trying not lose control. He had stopped storing his Spider-Man gear in his school backpack when he realized how easy it would be to find it if anyone happened across his backpack. He couldn’t help but be happy for that small miracle. Harry followed him into the class, throwing paper at him as he sat down. The teacher, as per usual, didn't see a thing.   
  
  
  
Peter was forced to borrow paper and a pen from Ned. Neither were happy (Ned was fine with Peter borrowing his things, he was more upset that Harry wouldn’t leave Peter alone.) Things took an even steeper downward spiral when Ms. Ryans handed back his essay with neat red letters saying ‘See me after class.’   
  
  
  
Peter had surprisingly gotten a decent mark on his essay (for not have reading Hamlet that is) and he hadn’t done anything to get in trouble (at least he was pretty sure.)   
  
  
  
Class rolled on slowly. Peter continued to wonder what he had done to make his teacher want to see him. He had always shown Ms. Ryans respect, turned his assignments on time (mostly), and stayed quiet in class.   
  
  
  
When the bell finally rang, Peter said goodbye to Ned and slowly made his way to the front of the room. He rested against a desk near the front of the room, waiting for everyone to clear out.   
  
  
  
“So, Mr. Parker,” Ms. Ryan said, settling down at her desk, “I have a favour to ask you.”   
  
  
  
“A… favour?” Peter asked, confusion lining his voice.   
  
  
  
Ms. Ryan sighed, “Peter, you are a good kid. You are the type of kid that stays out of trouble. And I could really use someone who is more of a… peacekeeper.”   
  
  
  
“Um… thank you?” Peter replied, unsure what to say.   
  
  
  
“Look, Peter, I know this is a lot to ask, but I’m giving out Hamlet group assignments on Thursday, and I need someone to be Harry’s partner. I know he has a reputation. Even the teachers know about that. But I want to pair him up with someone who I think he can help him grown to hopefully be a better person.” Peter tried to protest, but Ms. Ryan continued, “I don’t need you to answer me right away, Peter. Just… think about it. And if you say no, I promise I won’t hold it against you in any way. I really do believe you can help him, Peter.”   
  
  
  
With that, Ms. Ryans dismissed Peter.   
  
  
  
Peter walked down the hallway, thinking. As Spider-Man, he would be happy to try to help Harry become a better person. Spider-Man tried to give people the benefit of the doubt, tried to help them become better, but he was just Peter. Peter couldn’t help people. Peter couldn’t even stand up for himself.   
  
  
  
Then again, they were technically the same person. Technically, Spider-Man was just as much of a coward as Peter was, and Peter was just as strong as Spider-Man was.   
  
  
  
  
Either way, Ms. Ryans was asking for Peter’s help. His help. Spider-Man would help. And he was Spider-Man.   
  
  
  
His bag was at the top of the flagpole when he got outside, his books scattered around the yard.   
  
  
  
Harry was truly the worst.   
  
  
  
But, Peter was Spider-Man. If Spider-Man couldn't help Harry, than no one could.   
  
  
  
First, he would have to figure out a way to get down his bag.


	5. And so the Avengers are gone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He would always be there for Tony.
> 
> Always.

Peter was quiet. Too quiet. At this point, Tony was used to Peter’s mindless chatter about... everything. From his classes, to how he trying to create a supercomputer from junk he’d found, to how May was doing at work. But today, the kid hardly said a word. He just quietly sat there, tinkering with his suit.   
  
  
  
After nearly an hour of silence, Tony gave up and tried to talk to him. He turned Peter’s chair towards him, looking him in the eye, “Look, kid, are you mad at me or something? For taking your suit away? Something else?”   
  
  
  
Peter’s eyes widened, “No! Of course not, Mr. Stark. It’s just been a long week, you know? I’m just tired. Don’t worry.”   
  
  
  
“I wasn’t worried,” Tony said, walking away. He didn’t notice Peter’s face fall at his words.   
  
  
  
The two continued to work in silence, but something had changed between them. It felt like Peter had become even more upset. Tony almost tried to talk to Peter again. Almost. Tony figured the kid truly was just tired from trying to keep up with everything. He was just a kid after all. His life would tire anyone.   
  
  
  
Peter’s phone started blaring 'Young and a Menace.' Peter nearly launched the phone out of his hand trying to answer it.   
  
  
  
“Hello? Oh, hey MJ, how’s it- seriously? That’s awesome! When do you start? That soon? That’s so awesome, MJ! They are really great people, you’ll love it there. Okay. Okay. I’ll talk to you later. Stay safe. Call me if you need anything.” Peter hung up the phone and promptly got back to work, not even trying to explain to Tony what it had been about.   
  
  
  
“Who was that?” Tony called across the lab.   
  
  
  
“That? Oh, that was my friend MJ. She just got a job at a law firm she applied at.” Peter said simply.   
  
  
  
“Cool,” was Tony’s only response.   
  
  
  
___________________________   
  
  
  
  
Peter kind of wanted to just leave and never come back. The awkwardness was kind of killing him. Maybe he was thinking too hard. No, he was thinking too hard. Ever since that stupid night on that roof with Matt, everything seemed to be distorted. It kind of felt like he was missing something like he wasn’t getting the whole picture. He had no idea what it was, but it was psyching him out.   
  
  
  
Maybe he was just crazy. That was an option too.   
  
  
  
He almost tried to say something else to Mr. Stark, but he couldn’t figure out what to even talk about. Maybe if he hid under his desk, no one would notice and he could just fade out of existence.   
  
  
  
Thankfully, FRIDAY finally interrupted, “Boss, Mr. Rhodes is here to see you.”   
  
  
  
“Shit,” Tony muttered, “Kid, sorry, but you’ve got to go. FRIDAY will get Happy for you. Didn’t mean to cut your time short, but you can't be here.” Tony literally shoved him out the side door of the lab, not even saying goodbye.   
  
  
  
Peter held his suit closely to his chest, staring at the door that had been slammed in his face. Maybe the missing piece was that Tony honestly didn’t like him. Maybe he just needed help in Germany, and that was it. Maybe he had never wanted to keep in contact with Peter after Germany, and that’s why Happy never answered his messages.   
  
  
  
Or maybe he was just being paranoid.   
  
  
  
Or maybe he just needed a nap. That sounded good. A long nap where no-one bothered him and he could just forget about his confusing, frankly exhausting, life.   
  
  
  
______________________   
  
  
  
Peter hit the streets as soon as Happy dropped him off. He had slipped in and out of sleep on the way home, but he wasn’t tired. He wanted to fight something, anything.   
  
  
  
Peter soared through the city, trying to find something to do. Unfortunately, it was quiet out. Not even criminals wanted to be out on a Wednesday night.   
  
  
  
Instead of fighting, he found the tallest building he could get to and just watched the sunset. It was kind of beautiful watching the city turn from blue to a brilliant orange and pink. It made the horrors that lay beneath the glass towers seem obsolete.   
  
  
  
Peter heard a gunshot ring across the city. Instantly, he threw himself off of the building, falling to the streets below.   
  
  
  
“The gunshot came from East 82nd Street, and York Avenue,” Karen said, bringing up a map of the city.   
  
  
  
Peter quickly made his way to the location, listening carefully for other gunshots. He could hear yelling from a block away.    
  
  
  
When he got there, a young kid was holding an older man at gunpoint. The young man was shaking. The gun was shaking with him.   
  
  
  
Peter threw himself between the two men. The younger man jumped back in surprise, while the older one just held himself closer to the wall, hugging his briefcase close.   
  
  
  
“You know, you’re looking a little young to be packing around a gun,” Spider-Man said, “So why don’t you put it down, and we can act like this never happened, ok?”   
  
  
  
The middle-aged man behind him spoke up angrily, “Come on. He fucking shot at me! You think I’m going to forgive that?”   
  
  
  
Peter ignored the man’s comment, choosing to usher him to the mouth of the alley, making sure to stay between the gun and the man. As soon as he got a chance, the briefcase man was running.   
  
  
  
“Hey kid, what’s your name,” Peter asked, trying to keep the kid distracted from the running victim.   
  
  
  
“Why would I tell you? You’re just going to go to the police, and I’ll get arrested,” the kid was shaking even harder.   
  
  
  
“I promise you, I’m not police. How about this, as long as you don’t shoot at me, I won’t rat you out to the police. Besides, you’re what, fifteen, sixteen? You made a mistake. No one got hurt. You can still fix this.”   
  
  
  
“It wasn’t a mistake,” tears were streaming down the kid's face. He wiped them away angrily, “He deserves to die. He keeps taking money from us. Every person who lives in The Upper West Side he takes money from. He says it’s for our protection, but he kills anyone who won’t. I just want him to leave us alone.”   
  
  
  
“Do you know what, I can help with that, but how about you give me your name first, all right?”   
  
  
  
He hesitated a moment, before finally answering, “Kenny.”   
  
  
  
“Ok, Kenny. How about this. You put down your gun, and I’ll walk you home. When I get you back to your family, I’ll see what I can do about these guys taking money from you.”   
  
  
  
Kenny’s hands were still shaking, “How come you have to do it. I know I can do something about it, that’s why I’m here. If I kill him, they will stop coming around. I know it.”   
  
  
  
“I know it’s hard Kenny,” Peter took a small step forward, “to have people try to control your life. But killing isn’t the answer. You’ll go to jail for something you didn’t have to do. That won’t help your family. That won’t help anyone, even you.” another small step, “I’m serious about helping you out here, Kenny. I know some people in the police department who might be able to help. And if they can’t,” another step and Peter would be at the gun, “I have people who aren't kids who can help. But you are just a kid. You don’t need to be looking out for the world.”   
  
  
  
Peter gently lowered the gun so it was pointing at the ground and took it out of Kenny’s hands. He quickly crushed it between his hands and tossed it to the ground. Kenny was sobbing, so Peter held him in his arms, stroking his hair like his aunt used to when he was younger.   
  
  
  
“The world will look after you, Kenny. That’s a promise.”   
  
  
  
  
_________________________   
  
  
  
  
  
“Well, if it isn’t Colonel Rhodes himself,” Tony smiled at his longtime friend.   
  
  
  
Rhody, on the other hand, pulled Tony into a hug. Tony awkwardly patted him on his back, unsure of how to respond to this sudden affection.   
  
  
  
“You’re a bad friend you know,” Rhodes said gently.   
  
  
  
“Oh?”   
  
  
  
“Yep. You never call, never visit, never even send a letter. For all you know I could be married with a kid on the way,” Rhody teased, sitting down on the nearest chair.   
  
  
  
Tony snorted, “You? Married? With kids? I couldn’t see it.”   
  
  
  
“Just like no one ever saw you getting married?”    
  
  
  
The two smiled at each other for a moment. Tony knelt in front of the other man, his smile slipping from his face.   
  
  
  
“How are your legs doing, Rhody. Are they bothering you at all? Any pinching, tightness, anything making you uncomfortable?” Tony asked, concern lining his voice.   
  
  
  
“God, Tony, they’re… perfect. I honestly don’t know where I would be without them.” Rhodes gave a small smile.    
  
  
  
They both know where he would be, but it was left unsaid. Tony wanted to kill the people responsible. Rhodes deserved better than a life than this: worrying about if his tech was one day going to just stop functioning, when his body was just going reject the cybernetics. He deserved so much better.   
  
  
  
After a moment, Rhody continued, “I didn’t see Vision flying about when I arrived. What kind of trouble has he gotten into?”   
  
  
  
Tony sighed, scratching the back of his neck, “Honestly, I’m not sure. He left a while ago. ‘Wanted to live a human life.’ New York is my best bet. I have a feeling he wouldn’t want to wander too far from home.’   
  
  
  
“I haven’t heard of any purple and yellow robots raising hell in Manhattan.”   
  
  
  
Tony let out a short laugh, “Before he left, he figure out how to get less conspicuous skin. He said it was like his whole cape thing. He’s probably living life as a train conductor or something equally as stupid.” Tony paused, “I forgot to ask, but why are you here, Rhody?”   
  
  
  
It was Rhodey’s turn to sigh, “General Ross sent me.”   
  
  
  
“And here I thought you came by to say hi to an old friend.”   
  
  
  
Rhody laughed, “Of course I came to see you, but I also have a job, Tony.”   
  
  
  
“I know. What did that prick want?”   
  
  
  
“He was wondering, and I quote, “when the fuck you are going to get up off of your ass and start trying to find Cap and his team.”   
  
  
  
Tony groaned, “I’m going to need some alcohol for this.”   
  
  
  
Stark headed towards the kitchen, Rhody hot on his heels.   
  
  
  
“I thought you got over your drinking problem. You swore to me you were done, Tony.”   
  
  
  
Tony himself was already behind his bar, pulling out two glasses and sixteen-year-old scotch. He poured a generous amount in both, sliding one over to Rhody. Tony took a long sip before finally answering.   
  
  
  
“That was before I lost everything.”   
  
  
  
“Listen-”   
  
  
  
“No, you listen!” Tony snapped, “I had everything. Everything. I had friends, I had people who I loved. I had a family, Rhody. Something I hadn’t had since I was teenager. I had people who looked after me, and I looked after them. Steve was a friend. And he decided that a murdering bastard was more important than me. They all decided to help protect the person who killed my parents. You think I’m in a good place right now? Well, that’s a no. And do you know what, the alcohol helps me forget that one of my best friends beat me senseless? So fuck off Rhody.”   
  
  
  
Rhody spoke softly, “You haven’t lost everything, Tony. You still have me, and Pepper. You’ve got everything you need, Tony. Right here.”   
  
  
  
Tony finished the rest of his glass, and poured himself another one, “I’m done, Rhody. I don’t want to be an Avenger anymore. Hell, I’m thinking of selling this place, finding a new place for me and Pepper to live in the city. I’m the only one still living here. There’s no point to any of this anymore, Rhody. We became the Avengers because we were a group of remarkable people who could do something more because when they needed us, we could fight the battles they never could. But there’s nothing left Rhody. Nothing. If something did attack Earth again, there would be nothing left to defend it. We aren’t Avengers anymore, Rhodes. We are nothing.”   
  
  
  
  
_______________________   
  
  
  
  
Happy came back from the city to find Tony on the couch in the living room, barely functioning.   
  
  
  
“Oh, Tony,” Happy said softly, prying the glass from his hands, “What happened.”   
  
  
  
“I like you,” Tony giggled, “I’m mean. But I don’t scare you off. You’re too tough.”   
  
  
  
Happy managed to get Tony onto his feet and started dragging him to his bedroom, “You aren’t scary, Tony. What gave you that idea?”   
  
  
  
“I scared Rhody off,” Tony said sadly.   
  
  
  
“Well, you are going to have to work a little harder to scare me off, Tony. I’ve been with you for years. At this point, the only way you could get rid of me is by leaving me on a deserted island.”   
  
  
  
Happy gently tucked Tony into bed. Kind of like a parent would to a child. He then went to the corner chair and made himself comfortable. Tony would be lucky if he didn’t die of alcohol poisoning, and he would be right there if his boss stopped breathing, or tried to hurt himself, or anything. He would always be there for Tony.   
  
  
  
Always.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is a bit of a shorter chapter, but I felt like it needed to end there. This chapter was mostly about Tony's perspective on Civil War, but I have some ideas how to incorporate Cap's team on the whole incident.
> 
> Our main villain will be (sort of) introduced next chapter.
> 
> Also, I have come to realize I have, like, ninety-two subplots, and I will try and keep track of them all, but let me know if it seems like I've forgotten one.
> 
> Thank you all for taking your time to read this, comment, kudos, and just be an overall fantastic audience!


	6. The Problems Associated with Pulling an All-Nighter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karen took a moment to respond, “Best I can tell, our gunman is three buildings forward. Be careful, Peter. These bullets are not in my database, so I cannot tell you how to best disable them.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some fluff, some action, some angst. This has a bit of everything! I hope you enjoy
> 
>  
> 
> ****WARNING*****
> 
> There is a point where Peter believes people have been killed near the end of this chapter, and thus has suicidal thoughts. This is after Peter swings home for the night. If this makes you uncomfortable, please don't read. I will summarize what happened in the start of the next chapter. Please be safe, and I love you all so much.

Peter sat across the street on the roof across from Kenny’s small apartment, yawning nearly constantly. It was nearing three in the morning, but Peter was too scared to leave Kenny’s house unattended. If what Kenny had told him was true about a new gang taking over all the way from Hell’s Kitchen to Harlem, there was no doubt he and his family were in trouble. Especially since Kenny had held a gun to one of their heads.  
  
  
  
Aunt May was going to kill him when she found out he had pulled an all-nighter on a Wednesday night. As Spider-Man. Without telling her.   
  
  
  
He wasn’t sure what he was going to do about tomorrow. There was no way May was going to let him skip school for this. But Kenny and his family were in danger. He had two younger siblings, his parents, and grandparents living in that house.   
  
  
  
Maybe he could find a way to get them at least out of that apartment, if not the city.   
  
  
  
“You know, it’s a little late for you to be out on a school night, don’t you think?” came a deep voice from behind him.   
  
  
  
Peter leaped to his feet, nearly falling off the building in the process. It took a moment for him to notice the familiar red suit and devil horns.   
  
  
  
“Jeezus, you scared the crap out of me,” Peter said, holding a hand over his heart, “How did you do that?”   
  
  
  
“Do what?”   
  
  
  
“Sneak up on me like that. I can usually tell when someone is coming from a mile away,” Peter explained, looking back across the street.   
  
  
  
Matt shrugged in response, “Seriously though, what are you doing out here?”   
  
  
  
“Met a kid who got into some trouble. Have you heard of any new gangs on the street lately? One that’s led by a ‘Typhoid’?” Peter asked.   
  
  
  
Matt frowned, “I don’t think so, but it doesn’t surprise me. When the Kingpin fell, it left a gaping hole in the crime around New York. Surprised it took this long for someone new to step in.”   
  
  
  
“Ya, well, these guys have a hold from Hell’s Kitchen all the way up to Harlem. There are demanding money for protection, and shooting anyone who won’t pay up. My friend down there decided to try and fight back. I have my doubts these guys are just going to let him get away with it.”   
  
  
  
“So you’re here to make sure he stays safe,” Matt concluded.   
  
  
  
The two watched over the darkened house in silence, for a moment.   
  
  
  
“Wait a moment,” Peter said, twisting his body towards Matt, “How did you find me all the way out here. I’m nowhere near Hell’s Kitchen.”   
  
  
  
“Your heartbeat,” Matt replied simply, tapping a finger over Peter’s heart.   
  
  
  
“You heard my heartbeat?” suspicion lined Peter’s voice.   
  
  
  
“Yes. Most of the time, I wouldn’t be able to hear it that far, but your heartbeat is… unique to say the least. It beats harder and faster than nearly any other heart I have heard. It’s nearly on par with Captain America.”   
  
  
  
“Seriously? That’s pretty cool and a little creepy if I am being honest. Do I want to know how you came across the captain’s heartbeat?”   
  
  
  
  
Matt let out a laugh, “It’s really not all that interesting. I came across him downtown one day. He was helping up with the cleanup efforts after ‘the incident.’ At least I assumed that was him. Foggy told me that he was out there in his suit, so I put two and two together.”   
  
  
  
The two settled into a comfortable silence, chatting about whatever came to their mind every once in a while. A few people walked past the apartment building, but no one tried to get in. Peter nearly fell asleep twice as they watched, but nearly falling off of the building was a good way of waking Peter up.   
  
  
  
The sun began to rise at around six thirty. That’s when Matt made a call. Peter was too tired to really pay attention to the call. He just focused on the third story, trying to make sure nothing got past his (not so clear) eyes.   
  
  
  
“Are your normal clothes around here?” Matt asked, gently poking Peter’s shoulder.   
  
  
  
“Yes?"   
  
  
  
“Go and grab them. Don’t worry about Kenny, Danny’s on his way over. He likes to wake up at dawn to do his morning rituals, so he was more than happy to come. Don't worry. Do you remember where I live?” Peter nodded, “Head over there and get changed. I’ll take you out for some breakfast.”   
  
  
  
Peter tried to argue with Matt but was quickly shut down with a slight glare. Without hesitating any further, Peter swung off into the morning sun.   
  
  
  
  
_______________________   
  
  
  
  
  
By the time Matt made it back to his apartment, Peter had made himself at home and had fallen asleep on his couch.   
  
  
  
Matt quickly got changed and showered, trying to get rid of the smell of blood off of him. As per usual, no amount of soap could get rid of the coppery smell.   
  
  
  
“Five more minutes,” Peter groaned when Matt tried to wake him up.   
  
  
  
“Come on, kiddo. We’ve got to go.”   
  
  
  
“Fine. Ten more minutes?”   
  
  
  
Matt laughed, “You are terrible at math in the morning.”   
  
  
  
By the time Peter got up and to the door, he had managed to stumble into nearly every piece of furniture in the living room. It would be a pain relearning where all of them were.   
  
  
  
When Peter got to the top of the stairs, Matt held out his arm for him to take. Peter looked between the arm and Matt’s face. Matt could practically feel the confusion radiating off of him.   
  
  
  
“Do you-? I don’t think that’s a good idea. I might end up running you into a pole or something,” Peter stammered.   
  
  
  
“That’s what my cane is for,” Matt replied, unfolding it. With a nervous sigh, Peter finally took Matt’s arm, just above the elbow, “Good. Now all you have to do is keep up with my pace, and try not to go any faster. Dragging me around wouldn’t be any help. It just makes my life a little easier. I’m also less likely to get hit by a car this way.”   
  
  
  
The two headed to the stairs, Peter still awkwardly trying to help.   
  
  
  
“Can I ask you something, Matt?” Peter said.   
  
  
  
“Go for it.”   
  
  
  
“How do you… you know. Do everything? Sorry, I didn’t mean everything, just your nightly activities. And then be… you in the day… Gosh, I’m sorry. I’m sounding really terrible. So terrible. I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to doubt your blindness or anything like that, I’m just genuinely curious how you jump off buildings without… you know… dying.”   
  
  
  
“It’s ok. I think I get your question. I am blind, but that blindness enhances my other senses, like sound. It’s kind of like echolocation. I can hear how far away things are by how sound bounces off of them. But, it requires a lot of concentration, and when there’s a lot of noise, like on busy streets, it gets to be too much to try to use that echolocation. So that’s why I use a cane and go around as a blind person. Besides, eye contact is really difficult when you can’t see where someone’s eyes are.”   
  
  
  
“Wow,” Peter said in awe, “That’s really incredible. Amazing actually!”   
  
  
  
Matt couldn’t help but smile as he directed Peter to the diner nearest to his apartment. Peter hadn’t been lying when he said he didn’t doubt his blindness. Peter trusted him, and they hadn’t even known each other for a month.   
  
  
  
Matt had known Foggy for years when he had found out about Matt’s night time activities. Foggy hadn't trusted him for a moment.

  
_  
  
“Are you even blind?” _   
  
  
  
Yes, the Nelson and Murdock team had gotten back together after Matt’s not-death, but there was still tension in the air. That was one of the reasons why they that had decided to hire Michelle. A fresh face will probably stop the fighting between them.   
  
  
  
“Is ‘80’s’ the diner you were looking for?”   
  
  
  
Matt nodded and the two made their way inside. Matt led the way to a booth in the back. Peter sat across from him.   
  
  
  
“If it isn’t my favorite customer,” Linda, an elderly lady, came up to the table and gently kissed Matt on the cheek, “Who is your friend here?”   
  
  
  
“Linda, this is Peter. Peter, this is Linda.”   
  
  
  
“Matt here saved this place,” Linda said fondly, “Some rich guy tried to sue us for negligence when he got food poisoning here. We couldn’t afford a defense attorney, so Matt stepped up and got us out of our charges.”   
  
  
  
“That was really nice of him,” Peter said. Matt could tell he was looking at him, but he wasn’t able to figure out the expression on his face.   
  
  
  
Linda nodded, “It was indeed. Can I start you off with something drink?”   
  
  
  
“Coffee, please,” Peter said.   
  
  
  
“Make that two, please,” Matt finished.   
  
  
  
Linda left to the kitchen while Peter read through the menu. After a moment, Peter’s head shot up, blood rushing to his face.   
  
  
  
“I’m sorry, do you need any help with the menu or anything?” Peter asked.   
  
  
  
“It’s ok. I’ve been here enough times to know what I want. But thank you.”   
  
  
  
“Any suggestions?”   
  
  
  
Matt laughed softly, “I would suggest the scrambled egg special. It’s not the worst they have here.”   
  
  
  
“You know,” Peter pointed out quietly, “They say you are all scary and stuff, but I think you are too smiley to be scary.”   
  
  
  
Matt leaned across the table, “I’m only scary to those who deserve it.” 

 

 

Peter smiled and looked back to the menu.  
  
  
  
The two ate their scrambled egg specials quickly. Peter had practically chugged his coffee, and then promptly ordered three more cups, downing them just as fast.   
  
  
  
When Peter tried to pay for their meals, Linda had literally smacked his hand away. Matt wished he could see just to see the look on his face. 

 

They both ended up slipping twenties onto the table anyway.  
  
  
  
“Thank you so much for taking me out for breakfast,” Peter said as they stood outside the diner, “I also appreciate you helping look after Kenny. It makes me feel a whole lot better knowing someone else is looking after him.”   
  
  
  
“It’s really no probl- oof,” Matt stumbled forward as someone ran into him from behind.   
  
  
  
Peter nearly instantly caught Matt by his shoulders, rightening him the best he could.   
  
  
  
“Oh my goodness! I am so sorry!” a female voice said from behind him, “I was so busy looking at my phone I didn’t even notice you!”   
  
  
  
Matt turned around slowly. He could feel her heart beat even faster.   
  
  
  
“Oh gosh, I’m even more sorry. Are you ok?” she asked.   
  
  
  
Matt nodded, “There’s no need to worry. Accidents happen.”   
  
  
  
There was an awkward moment of silence before Peter spoke up, “Well, no offense, but I’ve got to get to class, so I’ll see you later, Matt!”   
  
  
  
Peter tried to leave, but the woman spoke up again, “Goodness, I’m sorry, but before you go, do you happen to know how to get down to 44th street?”   
  
  
  
“Sorry, ma’am. I’m new to this area, but Matt knows this area like the back of his hand, I’m sure he would be happy to help,” Peter said brightly, quickly scurrying away. Matt heard him whisper under his breath, “As your unofficial official wingman, I’m telling you, this girl is cute. Go for it.”   
  
  
  
With that, Peter was gone.   
  
  
  
He could feel the woman looking him over, “Could you get me to 44th street?”   
  
  
  
Matt hesitated, thinking about Elektra for a moment. He quickly shook those thoughts away. Besides, it was just a woman in need of some help. It was nothing more.   
  
  
  
“I can indeed,” he finally replied, holding out his arm for the second time that day, “You'd be surprised how much of the city I know, for being a blind person."   
  
  
  
The woman let out a small laugh and gently grabbed his arm. She let him lead her without a second thought.   
  
  
  
Matt found out her name was Mary. Mary Walker. She worked as a secretary at a vet clinic a few times a week. She had gotten lost because she saw someone on the street she usually walked down that had scared her off, but she had been so panicked she had lost track of where she was. She loved animals, but she didn’t trust herself to take care of one. She also smelled like peppermint.   
  
  
  
Mary was also a very smiley person, but she always put her head down when she did smile. It was cute. She was cute.   
  
  
  
They talked easily the entire way. Matt may have walked a little bit slower than he normally would, but that was just because it was nice to talk to someone who wasn’t holding a grudge or was a fifteen-year-old.   
  
  
  
They stopped outside of, by the smell, a vet clinic. Mary didn’t let go of Matt’s arm, instead, she pulled out her phone and took a deep breath.   
  
  
  
“Look, I don’t usually do this. I mean no offense, but men kind of scare me sometimes, but you seem really nice, and you are kind of cute, and I was just wondering if maybe, and you don’t have to give it to me, if I could have your number?” Mary practically shrunk into herself as she talked faster and faster.   
  
  
  
Matt smiled down gently at her and rattled off his number. She squeezed his hand before quickly getting inside the building.   
  
  
  
Matt smiled at her as she made her way inside, trying to ignore the way his stomach twisted at his thoughts. Elektra was still out there. But she wasn't the Elektra Matt had fallen in love with. Matt didn't want to let her go.

 

 But Mary...  
  
  
  
It was the peppermint, he decided.   
  
  
  
  
_____________   
  
  
  
  
  
  
Peter was falling asleep. Literally. Ned had to tap him with a pencil from behind to wake him up. It didn’t help that Mrs. Ryan was still drawling on about Hamlet. Something about Ophelia symbolism.   
  
  
  
“Now, before we finish class today, I will be pairing you up for the final Hamlet assignment,” groans echoed through the room, “And I want you to move to sit beside your partner, start planning, and find some times to meet up outside of class.”   
  
  
  
Mrs. Ryan read through the list. No one seemed overjoyed with their partners, but as soon as Peter’s name was called with Harry’s, the bustling class went eerily quiet.   
  
  
  
It wasn’t a secret how badly Harry treated Peter. In fact, everyone besides the teachers seemed to know about who Harry was.   
  
  
  
Most of the class watched as Peter picked up his bag and headed to the very back to sit next to Harry. The teenager himself was staring at Peter. Peter refused to look back. He just stared down at his notebook as Mrs. Ryan continued on the list of names.   
  
  
  
“Um,” Peter started, still not making eye contact, “I’m free Mondays and Wednesdays after school and most weekends.”   
  
  
  
Harry said nothing.   
  
  
  
As soon as the bell rang, Harry practically fled the room, leaving Peter more than stunned. Harry never missed a chance to make fun of Peter’s various nerdy traits, but he had said nothing at all.   
  
  
  
How they were going to ever even start their Hamlet assignment was beyond him.   
  
  
  
As everyone shuffled out of the school, Peter snuck his way into a nearby alley and quickly changed into his suit.   
  
  
  
Danny was waiting with a woman on the roof across from Kenny’s roof. They were sitting across from each other in a locus position. They were breathing in synch.   
  
  
  
Peter patiently waited on the opposite side of the roof as they meditated(?).   
  
  
  
“Come join us, young one,” Danny said without moving.   
  
  
  
Peter slowly made his way over, trying not to make a sound. He positioned himself next to the two, folding himself into the position they were in.   
  
  
  
“Breath with us now. When you breathe in, bring in good energy. When you breathe out, let those negative feelings leave your body.” Danny said dreamily.   
  
  
  
Peter attempted to follow Danny’s instructions, but Danny wasn’t having it.   
  
  
  
With a sigh, Danny turned to Peter, “You are thinking too hard, Spider-Man. You need to let go of things that are plaguing your mind.”   
  
  
  
“Dude,” Peter replied, “We are literally watching to make sure a family doesn’t die. It’s kinda hard to let things like that go.”   
  
  
  
Danny opened his mouth to reply but promptly closed it.   
  
  
  
“Ignore him,” the girl laughed, holding out a hand, “I’m Colleen, Danny’s girlfriend.”   
  
  
  
“Lovely to meet you. I’m Spider-Man,” Peter greeted in return, “Thank you both for watching out for Kenny. Did anything happen while I was gone?”   
  
  
  
“No. It’s been quiet all day. We haven’t seen any groups trying to break down their door, so that’s probably a good sign,” Colleen explained.   
  
  
  
“That’s good. Do you think they will-” Peter stopped mid-sentence, the hair on the back of his neck standing up, “I think you spoke too soon, Colleen.”   
  
  
  
Instantly, the three ran over to the edge of the roof, staying low. There wasn’t anyone on the street trying to break into the apartment building, but Peter still felt like something was very wrong.   
  
  
  
That’s when he saw a red light in Danny’s blond hair.   
  
  
  
“Get down,” Peter yelled, tackling Danny to the ground as the gunshot rang out. The ground beside them began smoking. It exploded as suddenly as the gunshot had rung out.   
  
  
  
“What was that,” Colleen panted from the other side of the small crater that had been created by the bullet, “What the hell!”   
  
  
  
“I don’t know!” Peter hissed back, “Stay down. I’m going to check this out.”   
  
  
  
Both tried to tell him to stop, but Peter had already thrown himself to the next building, clinging to the wall.   
  
  
  
“Karen, do you know where that gunshot came from?” Peter whispered, looking around for any more red dots.   
  
  
  
Karen took a moment to respond, “Best I can tell, our gunman is three buildings forward. Be careful, Peter. These bullets are not in my database, so I cannot tell you how to best disable them.”   
  
  
  
  
Peter crept around the building, flinching as another gunshot rang out. He heard the pop of the bullet exploding, but he didn’t turn back. Danny and Colleen were capable people. They would be fine... right?   
  
  
  
By the time he got to the end of the second building, he could see the sniper rifle peeking over the next roof.   
  
  
  
With a deep breath, Peter shot his webs at the gun, pinning it in place. He then launched himself at the gunman.   
  
  
  
Unfortunately, the gunman was fast and managed to get out of the way before Spider-Man could hit him, abandoning the gun in the process.   
  
  
  
Peter quickly stepped on the gun, cracking it beneath his foot. Then, he turned to the gunman. The man had his fists raised and was in a defensive stance. In one hand was a small knife.   
  
  
  
“If I were you, I’d just give up now, buddy,” Spider-Man said, standing tall, “I really don’t like people who shoot at me. It’s you, with a knife, against me, an angry superhero. The odds are not in your favor.”   
  
  
  
“I’ll take my chances,” the man growled, leaping at Peter.   
  
  
  
Peter easily dodged the first slash of the knife. The slash left the man wide open, and Peter took the opportunity to punch the man in his stomach, knocking him back. The gunman didn’t give up there. Instead, he leaped forward again, his knife coming down in an arc.   
  


Before Peter could react, gunfire broke out down the street. His attention was divided for a brief moment. In that moment, the knife managed to come down too fast for Peter to move out of the way in time. The knife made it’s way through his suit, embedding itself in his shoulder.  
  
  
  
In a moment of fear, Peter shoved the man back hard enough that a sickening crack came from the man’s chest, and he hit the ground with a groan of pain. Peter quickly webbed the gunman to the roof, ignoring the pain radiating from his shoulder.   
  
  
  
Leaning over the parapet, Peter could see more gunmen. They were obviously trying to break into Kenny’s family home. Fortunately, Danny and Colleen were sort of holding them off. A fist and a katana sword could only do so much against automatic weapons.   
  
  
  
“Karen?” Peter said, trying to figure out what to do, “Do I have any…. Crap I don’t know… some sort of net?”   
  
  
  
“Yes. Would you like me to equip it for your use?”   
  
  
  
“Yep. Yep. Yep. That sounds good,” Peter muttered, finally throwing himself down to street level.   
  
  
  
Danny and Colleen were pressed up against a wall as the gunmen moved forward towards them. Peter ran towards the gunmen straight on. It definitely wasn’t the smartest thing he had ever done, but then again, adrenaline and lack of sleep did that to a person.   
  
  
  
As guns began to fire, Peter yelled, “Karen, deploy net!”   
  
  
  
The net was big enough, and fired fast enough, that it managed to capture most of the men. Three were free and had their guns aimed right at Peter.   
  
  
  
“Crap.” Peter stumbled down the street, attempting to avoid the gunfire.   
  
  
  
Because the gunmen were so focused on Spider-Man, Danny and Colleen managed to strike when they passed their hiding place. Colleen hit the nearest gun with her katana, knocking it out of his hand. A quick jab with the bottom of the sword to the head took him down. While this was happening, Danny had taken down the other two with a glowing fist.   
  
  
  
With all the gunmen down, Peter made his way back over, crushing the ends of the guns in his hands.   
  
  
  
“Well, that was fun,” Peter sighed, looking at the two adults.   
  
  
  
“You have a knife stuck in your shoulder,” Colleen stated, staring at it.   
  
  
  
“Oh,” Peter said simply, yanking it out of his shoulder, only flinching slightly, “Forgot about that. Are you guys ok?”   
  
  
  
“How do you forget about a knife in your shoulder? You can’t just-” Colleen waved her hand in the air like she wasn’t sure how to continue.   
  
  
  
Danny was the one to respond to Peter’s question, “We are all right, thank you. I am concerned about your friend, though. I will get in contact with my brother and see if he can set up a house for him and his family outside the city. It’s becoming exceedingly obvious that he isn’t safe here.” Danny gave a pointed look at Spider-Man’s bloody shoulder, “The police should be here soon. Someone must have called the police with all the gunfire happening. I would get that shoulder checked out if I were you.”   
  
  
  
Peter waved him off, “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. Not much can actually hurt me at this point.”   
  
  
  
Danny stared at Peter, eyes narrowing, “Red told us that you were up all night last night. Go home. Me and Colleen will take care of this.” When Spider-Man didn’t move, Danny continued, “I promise we will look after your friend. We will make sure the police keep them somewhere safe until we can work out a way to get them out of this situation. Now go home.”   
  
  
  
Sighing, Peter webbed himself back onto the building, waving goodnight to the two adults. He waited on the roof until the police showed up, before finally heading home.   
  
  
  
Aunt May was going kill him, no doubt. He was supposed to come home right after school, after not telling her that he was going to be out all night last night… He should probably call Ned and say his goodbyes.   
  
  
  
Peter was just about to cross the bridge back into Queens when he saw a woman. There was nothing particularly making her stand out. She was carrying some reusable grocery bag. Her hood was up, and long hair was poking out underneath.   
  
  
  
She was simply walking down the street.   
  
  
  
But it was late, and she was in a bad part of town. Peter didn’t want this poor woman to be walking by herself, especially after what had just happened. No one should be alone out here at night.   
  
  
  
“Excuse me, miss?” he called, swinging down towards her.   
  
  
  
Her shoulders rose in response, and she started walking faster.   
  
  
  
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean me to scare you,” Peter called, “It’s just me, Spider-Man. I didn’t want you to be alone out here, do you need someone to walk you home?”   
  
  
  
The woman practically ran into the nearest alley, leaving behind one of the bags behind in the process.   
  
  
  
“Miss, miss, you forgot your bag!” Peter yelled, following her into the alley, the abandoned bag in hand.   
  
  
  
He didn’t realize how creepy he was being until he made his way into the alley, but at that point, it was too late to turn back.   
  
  
  
“Miss? You dropped your bag. I didn’t want you leaving it behind… I’ll just leave it here so it doesn’t get stolen. I’m sorry to have bothered you.”   
  
  
  
When Peter turned around to leave, the alley had changed. It was all too familiar. The red and yellow graffitied garbage can, the broken ladder, the broken microwave that looked like it had been tossed out of one of the upper story windows.   
  
  
  
It was the alley Uncle Ben had died in.   
  
  
  
At the entrance of the alley, a shadow figure had a gun pointed to someone's head. Peter tried to run towards them, but he was stuck. He couldn’t move.   
  
  
  
The gun went off.   
  
  
  
The body fell, the face turned into the light.   
  
  
  
May.   
  
  
  
Peter let out a sob, stumbling towards his aunt.   
  
  
  
“May?” Peter said, shaking her body, “Aunty, please. Please don’t be dead. I need you. Aunty, please.” Peter gathered her body into his arms, holding her tightly.   
  
  
  
Four more gunshots went off.   
  
  
  
When Peter looked up, four more bodies were laying in the alley. The only four people left in his life were dead.   
  
  
  
He couldn’t breathe.   
  
  
  
It felt like his lungs were collapsing in on themselves.   
  
  
  
They were all dead.   
  
  
  
  
Peter hugged May even tighter, trying to process what just happened. That he was an orphan all over again. That he now had no-one left in his life at all. That everyone he loved was dead.   
  
  
  
There was the sound of footsteps behind Peter, but he didn’t look up. If he died, so be it. There was nothing left for him here.   
  
  
  
There was a sudden red light, then darkness.


End file.
